Seeing that millipede crawl 

across my office floor,

I wonder if he’s searching for

 some decomposing matter.

There’s nothing decomposing here 

except unproductive patterns,

and outdated points of view.

Sadly, on many days

there’s not even much of that. 

I gently pick him up

and go outside. I place him

 near those well-mulched bushes,

feeling an unexpected kinship

with this decomposition seeker.

                                                                                          JDG

My dog Toby

came into the room,

took one look at my frazzled face, 

and sat down by my side.

He offered no sage advice.

 He didn’t remind me

that others had it worse.

He didn’t try to cheer me up.

He simply came and sat.

Sometimes a friendly,

wordless presence

is all we need.

                                                                                   JDG

Cars speed by as I sit,

waiting for the light to change.

I’m in my new-to-me car.

I remember the first car I bought

fifty-six years ago.

I didn’t have a license, didn’t 

even know how to drive.

What I did know was 

it was sweltering hot in Alabama

and I was tired of waiting.

My husband was out of town 

and the bikes we had been riding

for two years were parked outside.

To this day, how I got that loan

and that car remains a mystery,

but by the time he got home

we had a car.

The light changes,

but I haven’t changed much. 

                                                                                                                                                                                   JDG

I watch as that hungry butterfly

visits one bloom, then another.

From some blooms she drinks deep;

from others she takes just a sip.

Many blooms she passes by

leaving me to wonder why.

Is it a nectar she doesn’t favor

or has she tired of its flavor?

Ah…so many blooms, so little time,

just like all those books of mine.

                                                                                                 JDG

I know I should count to ten,

but I usually don’t make it past three.

Why me?

Oh, not again!

When will this ever end?

Still, the other day

I made it all the way to four

before I got up and slammed the door.

I’m making progress

as you would see if 

– if you knew what

it was like to be me.

                                                                               JDG

Through mindfulness practice 

I’ve become aware

of the many ways I’ve clung

 to people, places, ideas and stuff.

Over the years 

I’ve tried to loosen my grip, but

I didn’t anticipate losing things

  like names, phone numbers and such.

I meant to loosen, not lose, my grip. 

                                                                            JDG

The mind can take a single what if

and grow whole fields of worry weeds,

but it can also take what is

and grow seeds of equanimity

in an expanding field of compassion.

                                                                                  JDG

For just a moment

I want to listen to the silent morning speak.

For just a moment

I want to taste the salt of my reply.

For just a moment

I want to turn to myself and say, “Welcome home.”

                                                                                               JDG