Looking For Answers (1974)

I look for answers
to a million whys.
Some have no answers,
Some - time will find.
But there is one
that troubles me now
as I contemplate life,
in the late night sky.
They say 'tis to grow,
to mature with time;
How important are
the years to them!
And yet, me - but a young lass,
am not affected by the time.
I care not how long I've been,
nor how long I'll be,
Time meanest nothing for me,
except in tense of past,
and present, future too?
How they interchange,
and future is present
and past is the same.

Ah, they say to mature
to become wise,
yet I look at people about me,
yes, old and older and older still,
and even unto those who tell me
how much I have to grow.
And, I see how much
like children they be.
With whims, impulses, eccentricities,
Yet they preach to me of wisdom…
Old fools these -
Alas, I cannot understand:
Are we what we are? or
what we think we be?
How can children be wise
in simple wisdom,
and great prophets, wisemen,
be so foolish as children?
I cannot truly understand.
Is time, experience
add to wisdom and knowledge,
Or is the opposite true?

And time itself!
We measure it and label it,
yet, is it truly there?
Do not the tenses confuse?
We see the past,
Live the present,
and dream the future.
But are they not here at once?
Are we blind,
or know not how to see?
How do they say:
With time and experience
one gains knowledge,
Yet many a one much older
than me know less than I,
in but half their time?
Preach not to me of wisdom
and how time will teach me well,
Tell me not I will mature.
For I see your foolishness,
oh wise ones.
Your contradictions speak to me.

Proud (1984)

I am proud
of where I have come
of what I have become.
I am stronger -
more integrated,
more centered,
more at peace,
more accepting
of my fallibility - -
and my competence.

Look Ahead (1977)

Saying goodbye - - Crying.
Saying Hello - - Laughing.
Wanting to go back
But looking ahead.
The past is gone - -
Only a memory.
The future
is ahead.

Open to Learning (1975)

I learn from everything around me - -
From a blade of grass
struggling to grow
through a crack in the cement,
From someone's dream,
From a person's face,
From everything around me.

I wish I could open people's eyes
to the beauty in this world.

Today's Lesson (1990)

I learned something today
I'm not exactly sure what.
I have been walking in darkness,
sad and depressed.
Yet I have been praying
Asking for help,
turning my will over.
Today, I wanted to stay quiet
Inside my gloom - -
The gray rain to match.

But, I was asked to chair a meeting.
I did- - I turned it over…
Everyone came and thanked me.
It was good! It was right!
I don't know why or how,
I just trusted and did let go.
I did not try,
And it was good.
I am OK as is!

Help me to know this, and remember it.
Just be, as good as I can. Not try.
I need to be me, before I change me, or be another.

Patience (1989)

My meditation this morning
speaks to me:
Patience
with the slow healing of time.

Many steps from sorrow
to renewed serenity.
Unbearable pain,
Poignant grief,
Empty days,
No consolation.

Disinterest indifference
gradually giving way
to a new weaving - -
A new pattern of action.
The acceptance
of the irresistable challenge of life.
Patience, healing,
Hope for a new path.

I Try My Best (1974)

I try my best
to fulfill my ideals
and actualize my dreams.
But I cannot expect
all to be perfect,
or positive and smooth.
I must face the complexity,
I must face the reality,
The reality of humanity.