While you are shouting you’re right.
Check
who else is.
There’s always
more to
know.
poem-who are you, really? July 19, 2021
I’m a good person!
I don’t cheat
(well, except that test,
but it was an important one, I couldn’t afford to fail!
Oh, and with that girl at the bar that one time when
the wife was out of town, but that was her fault)
I don’t lie
(well, except to my mom, she couldn’t handle knowing
and would raise a fuss).
I don’t steal
(Hey, those pirate book and video sites aren’t stealing,
those folks don’t deserve to be paid for their work!)
I don’t drink too much
(that time doesn’t count, we were celebrating!)
I’m not violent
(you can’t say she didn’t deserve that black eye).
I’m a good person.
I’m just like you, right?
What does ‘good’ mean, anyway?
poem-perspectives April 4, 2021
NaPoWriMo.net prompt to use a photo from @SpaceLiminalBot’s feed for inspiration:
It’s all about perspective, isn’t it?
Pandemic confusion.
I’m swimming in a world gone awry
looking for the ladder of escape
which way’s up?
poem-listen to your voice April 2, 2018
I wrap my arms around this dream and squeeze.
I unfold expectations, unwrapping a gift of discovery
What am I?
He wraps his arms around her dream and squeezes.
She unfolds expectations, unwraps discovery
What is she with him?
What is he with her?
What are they in their dreams?
You wrap your arms around your dream and squeeze
Unfold your expectations, unwrap your gift.
What are you?
You are
the gift.
NaPoWriMo #2 playing with voice
poem-narrow March 27, 2018
Read and understand,
my children.
The world is not as narrow
as your mind.
If you live a life,
mired in the same mud,
you will never know the
glories of a mountain peak,
power of ocean depths.
Read and understand,
my children.
What you have seen
is not all there is.
What you have felt
is not all there is to feel.
See and understand,
my children.
There is more.
So much more.
Than what you know.
Open your eyes,
to the world
my children.
See and understand.
poem-there November 28, 2016
In the early morning
the view is clear;
we can see for miles.
As day emerges,
clouds obscure our vision,
our perspective decreases.
Clarity before obscurity.
Peace before busyness.
One to hold the other at bay.
poem-sigh June 21, 2016
Your world is a place of melodrama.
Teacups can’t contain the tempests that turn around you.
Moles man earth movers making mountains.
Stop.
Breathe.
There are so many bigger things in the world,
like poverty, war, disease.
In the scheme of things, that she looked at you funny,
or he didn’t return your tweet,
is worth less than a shrug.
Truly, if you live in a land at peace,
your life is sweet.
poem-princess? February 6, 2016
She says she’s not waiting for a handsome prince
and laughs like she’s joking.
But she had a handsome prince
and she she treated him like a frog,
so if one was to come along now,
I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t even recognize him.
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-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 