Morning At the Opera

It’s seven A.M. and I’m still in bed

when the chorus of lamentations begins.

Pitiful whines and anguished meows

rapidly rise to a grand crescendo.

There’s only one way to bring

 this opera to a close and that’s

 to rise and  fill their food bowls.

JDG

Wise Words From My Friend, Beth

Self Compassion

We gladly lend a compassionate hand

to victims of

illness, floods, heat, fire,

and other calamities.

Would we extend

the same soothing understanding

to ourselves?

Compassion means

“to suffer with.”

Yet we often suffer in silence and alone,

plagued by

our floods of self-doubt

that wash away our worth,

the fires of self-hatred

that leave our soul barren.

Listen!

It’s not “Love your neighbor”

better than yourself!

Listen!

for a calm voice

that says, always,

you are loved.