Candles glisten, blue and white
In the windows
and on graves across the land.
Memories of independence:
A declaration, an idea, a nation.
Quiet thankfulness and pride,
a flickering pinprick of light.
.
Itsenäisyyspäivä Suomenmaa.
poem- perspectives December 5, 2015
“Isn’t it interesting,” the old lady mused,
“How people can have such different pictures of someone.”
Not really.
Especially when one always looks through a petty and critical lens,
and the other is open to receive love and kindness.
You see what you look for,
after all.
poem- light December 4, 2015
She is light.
She glows with gentle radiance
that touches everyone she meets with her warmth.
She is peace.
In her calm presence you are comforted
simply by being near her serene heart.
She is whole.
She does not need anything from anyone,
for she has found the font of her strength within herself.
She is love.
poem-compassion December 3, 2015
She said, compassion is a light.
It attracts those in darkness who then devour it.
Oh what a sad and bitter theory!
No.
Compassion is a fire that burns freely
and radiates warmth and comfort to those who draw near.
Fuel for compassion is love and contentment, which renews the fire regardless if anyone has gathered to enjoy the heat.
Compassion can not be taken, it can only be given;
it is the essence of its fuel.
No one who is truly compassionate can be bitter,
because bitterness is the antithesis to love and contentment.
poem-ending December 2, 2015
So many questions I’ve wondered
Who was your first love?
Why did you make this decision?
What do you wish?
What have you learned?
What do you advise?
But you have always said,
each person takes his own journey,
what you learned was for you alone,
and so you’ve kept your secrets,
and soon I will be asking questions
to the wind.
poem- cardiac episode December 1, 2015
You’re dizzy.
Can’t find the armhole on your blouse.
Falling.
You come to yourself slowly,
worn out,
laughing.
Minor cardiac episode?
Heart attack
or
Love?
poem-year November 30, 2015
Another year older
Another year wiser?
Another year employed.
Another year, analyser
Advise ‘er to be bolder.
poem-learning November 29, 2015
The journey brings learning.
What do you do?
How has it evolved this way?
What do you want to change?
Eyes open.
Ears open.
So much to learn from those
who’ve gone ahead.
poem-loyal November 28, 2015
You think it’s a good idea to help someone out,
to help friends stay together..
So she wasn’t the first choice; it was a nice thing to do,
and she was thankful, for a little while,
but then she grabbed at other opportunities,
shunned the faith entrusted in her.
And in a desperate time,
abandoned the team.
I didn’t want her back. Disloyalty is the greatest wrong.
To accept responsibility and then on a whim to leave,
throws trust back at the giver, laughs at them.
But she returned, and slowly trust was growing,
but here we are again.
Repeating the story.
It’s simply a lack of integrity when your commitments
mean nothing. We are to train our students in ‘soft skills’
for the new workforce. Here’s an important one:
be reliably trustworthy.
If you demonstrate a lack of commitment,
you will never get a good recommendation,
because no one will be committed to you.
It’s hard to earn trust and too easy to destroy it.
Once your lack of honour has been displayed,
you wear it like a beacon that declares:
disloyal!
poem-not Justin November 27, 2015
Tall, dark, curly haired, and smiling wide,
he poses against the Coast Mountains with a beautiful girl.
“Wait. Is that Justin Trudeau?” someone asks.
No. My daughter isn’t dating the (married) Prime Minister.
The ocean sparkles beneath the blue sky,
tankers, container ships, and whales pass by.
Our Prime Minister lived and taught here.
Now he lives and works across the country.
West Coast leaves a vibe that makes an impression,
Freedom and justice look different from mountain tops.
The view is more expansive.
Young people make beginnings that may be auspicious
with time.
Perspective is everything.
Shawn L. Bird 