Peace Within

PEACE WITHIN

For now I feel

Cast adrift

Searching for

A source uplift

Seeking to mend

Any rift

Vacillating

One state to another

I do shift

Bitter and sweet

Do meet

While I between them

Do seat

Searching in life

To be complete

When misdirection

Is replete

Yet I refuse

To admit defeat

Many a distraction

Doth delude

A hearts desire

Doth elude

While from other founts

Doth weariness exude

While from our goals

They do preclude

I see all this

From a distance

Easing my resistance

Slipping to

Tests insistence

Finally turning on High

For assistance

Knowing in the end

The requisite persistence

And now I find

A peace

come over me

And find solace

In who to be

And care not

whether others see

Tis not some glorious destiny

Nor is it infamy

Nor could I

this state foresee

It rests simply

In the words “to be”

-Shiidon, April 2011

I find myself ready to write and the nib of my pen (fountain pen) rests in my hand but millimeters from the paper and yet the first words don't form. I sit poised ready in thought and meditation. Then, of a sudden, the pen drops and the words flow. Such is what happened tonight. In but a few weeks my youngest child is hoping to graduate from High School and will wing her way to adulthood. She is already making plans for her life. My oldest has told me he wants to follow in the footsteps of his Grandfather and his brother is planning his return to college this fall. Me, well, the poem says it all in some ways.

Happy Ridvan to my Bahá'í friends.

Amber Roads

AMBER ROADS

I view life

Not as a battle,

With strife

But of a place to learn

Where my heart doth burn

And my soul doth yearn

To be of service

To my fellow beings

And in that service

Find life’s hidden meanings

When we look

At what brings us down

In pain and suffering

We are threatened to drown

What is it

We truly control

Not much more

Than our personal role

The lessons of life

Are all around

Our whole life

They do surround

In them no lacking

For they do abound

How is it

On life’s long path

We lose our way

And get distracted,

By the day by day

When we know

In our heart

To do our part

We must

Make a start

As we, our purpose fulfill

Following not our own

But His will

Our soul will thrill

So, overcoming

Life’s little tests

Will help us attain

Our very best

But one thing is certain

In this, there is no rest

I strive

To at this state arrive

That joy, in being alive

In spite of all the sorrows

That one could recall

I continue with joy

To give, my all

Towards life’s final

Curtain call

-Shiidon, April 2011

Springs short few weeks are here in the Austin area just before the long hot summer that tends to form life here in Central Texas. I enjoy the weather but my eyes and sinus's are not as happy with the Oak and other pollen. I was talking to my father yesterday and he said how he liked my poem but that he thought it sad. He was worried about me. I am not sure why. I told him that once these thoughts that inspire my writing are down on paper, I am free of them. I enjoy life and the challenges that come as we make our way through it. For me I am happy to be able to express myself both in verse and here in my commentary. By the way, I have no idea why I call this poem Amber Roads. It came to me just as the words of the poem came.

I went to the movies with Winrik this week. We had a nice burger and he had a shake. We saw a goofy movie which he was surprised I watched with him. It reminded me of my father taking me to the soda fountain in Sanford Florida to have a root beer float (root beer and vanilla ice cream) and then buying me my first science fiction book, John Carter, Warlord of Mars. My passion for science fiction began then. I remember my father telling me about his father taking him for a purple cow (grape soda and ice cream) and spending time with him.

Life is shorter than you think. Don't take people for granted. Appreciate each and every friend that comes into your life. You never know when you will have that opportunity again.

Returning Home

RETURNING HOME

When I know not

What to do

I reach out

And call to You

Though I pray

Each and every day

Tis not the same

As in this way

I speak to You

Every night

Unburdening,

My every plight

The questions are moot

The prayers go on

The stress acute

Yet I continue

In my pursuit

When I look

At the world around

I find that strife

And pain abound

Countless souls

In tests awash

And hope seems

To be mercilessly squashed

I can’t help but think

That as I approach

My limits brink

There is a meaning

Towards which I’m leaning

And only with time

Am I gleaning

One can say

The oasis is inviting

That tis designed

To be exciting

That being out

In the desert, dry

Makes us in longing cry

And run towards You, or die

But what I now see

Is more of how

We are to be

Tis us who

Have our source forsaken

And for empty promises

Our leave taken

And walked away

From our life’s source

Eventually, one by one

We come to see

What we have done

And with humility

We turn around

And find ourselves

On new ground

The realization, profound

Person by person

We turn this way

And seek towards oneness

Without delay

And eventually in time

We will all strive

Towards the divine

We are not going

To something new

But towards

What we once eschewed

For now the troubles,

I do bear

For of the endgame

I am aware

And eventually in this

We will all share

So my friend

Your burden is mine

And theirs are ours

And so it goes

As this awareness grows

We lessen the burden of all

When together

We heed His call

And eventually, peace

Will descend upon all

-Shiidon, April 2011

Well, lots going on and then again nothing new. There is a silence. The phone is quiet, the email conversations have been replaced by the monologue of Facebook. The space is filled with contemplation, reflection and service. What else is there? I had a very difficult week last week as all three of my children were going through difficulties of their own. My parents, brother his fiancée and my daughter were chased off of their mountain by an uncontrolled fire that missed them only because of the chance direction of wind. A profound sadness over the tests to come for a beloved family member. It brought to me this poem. A thought that we all have burdens and that the world is going through much. If only we helped each other more, it could be different. I believe it will. However, we still have much to go through before we realize that our neighbors problem is our own. That turning a blind eye to the suffering of others is no longer tolerable. What I find interesting is that, when viewed this way, I don't feel so alone in the various tests that seem to pop up from time to time.