How many...

Live on past mistakes
Afraid to give it all away
Thinking maybe if they do
They'll have nothing to hold to

How many...

Of us draw the line
Stepping over time after time
Losing out on what is real
Focused more on how we feel

How many...

See the wrong displayed
Then turn and look the other way
Never dare to get involved
Yet blaming others for their faults

How many...

Of us talk the talk
Yet all in all don't walk the walk
Holding to that age old truth
Do as I say not as I do

How many...

This is what Churchill
and his cabinet did to Dresden,
Total apocalypse,
A city reduced to rubble,
And families burnt to smoking ash.

We are doomed to repeat
the savagery and
barbarism of the past,
Skin and bone,
Glass and broken stones.

Anyone who supports attacks
on fellow human beings,
or defends mass ******,
Or speaks in favour of further bloodletting,
they are truly enemies of the human race.

Our world has suffered for too long,
Those who sell weapons,
You who profit from bullets and ****** bones,
and those who profit from igniting wars,
they are the ones who degrade us all.

What will we tell our children?

(Recurring Reflections And Beliefs)

Birthday after birthday
i keep looking back...
and find five girls always on my tail,
i see them as my regular paparazzi
when i am in my busiest moments,
when things work out adversely,
against all my best efforts
i find them still tagging along with me...

And then,
i look back at my most trying times
i recall those epiphanies that came to light my way,
how they guided me through,
until i was out of the dark tunnel...
.....until that MOMENT came
when i could hear with just one ear,
i have no regrets, though, or anger within,
for, i could still hear the leaves rustle
when a light breeze blows...
i hear even the dry oak leaves
as they hit the ground,
or when an empty plastic cup
is blown by the wind
from corner to corner of the street...
these days, i am more aware
of the bees buzzing on top of the flowers,
the birds, scattering seeds, helping
create new lives on the ground.....
i still clearly hear the hummingbird flapping its wings,
hovering, as it drinks from the bird feeder,
even as dusk sets in...
i hear the mockingbird...as it closes its wings
and roosts on a pine twig.....

One vital truth keeps me going-
i still have my one good ear
my eyes, my arms, my feet...
always, i am reminded of this question:
why did God endow us with two eyes,
two ears, two hands, two feet?
we lose one, there is still the other
in our daily lives, the same thing applies
among our loved ones and friends,
we lose some, we gain some....
some doors close, another one opens...
second, even third chances are ever waiting,
a fresh start is always there to be claimed...

In this stretch of my life,
i still am faced with choices on paths to take,
those once transitory thoughts
still visit and within me, they stir..
but, reason and good judgment
rise above all...

.....these things, i have realized---
most of what i wanted then...and didn't get,
i have now let go....
selflessness is inevitable,
there are people...things...to be prioritized
over  our own happiness
understanding is important
.....seeing myself here, now,
.....i am happy,
.....i am no longer there
still, i am glad to have been there...

When asked the most puzzling questions,
i have learned to turn
to the wisdom of the children,
i always, always have but one answer....
"...just because...".

At this point and time,
life, still is not perfect...
but i have known how to be calm,
as i face each new day...
perfect, or imperfect,
it doesn't matter anymore,
heart and mind have been honed,
for this knowledge overrules all others:

God is beside me, He is behind me...
He leads me,
He's got me covered...
i have nothing to fear...

(November 13, 2013)


Sally

Copyright November 2013
Rosalia Rosario A. Bayan

I have trouble sleeping
my CPAP machine starting squeaking
like a mouse is in my bed
So I quickly yanked the mask off my head
The cat knocked something over
the contents spilling the contents on the floor
Too late to vacuum up the carpeted floor
Midterm week for school tests and
big paper to write
I need more sleep to think more clearly
The highlight of my day was reading
and replying to messages that you
my dear Hello Poetry friends have written
I bid you adieu for now and wish you
sweet dreams and hope for them too