take your time

Don’t forget to take your time

before someone takes it for you.

Breathe. Relax. This game is life

goes so fast. Smile. Laugh. Sit

back before the chickens hatch.

Enjoy your time and others will

too. Take your time. Go. Live

your life, and I will live mine.

Together, we can take small steps

on the stairwell to eternity. Then,

we will know how it feels to be

free. Look ahead: not at a watch.

Forget all that you were taught.

Don’t rush. Be patient. Say that

it will work out. Say that

it will be fine taking your time.

Read the Room

You don’t have to be literate
to read the room. You don’t
have to know how to sweep
to use a broom. You don’t
need feet to own shoes.
Rooms are like books on
a shelf. People are like words
on a page. Sometimes, it takes
awhile for some to open up.
Each person has their own
definition of life. Views
and perspectives differ.
Beauty is in the eye of
the beholder. Lessons
are learned and days
grow shorter as we get
older. You don’t need
a folder to read the room.
Open your eyes and look
around. Take it all in
as you read the room.
From womb to the tomb,
leave no room for regret.
Read the room and learn
how fires burn. Read
each person’s face. Learn
just how the world turns.
Whatever you decide to do,
know that it is better to
read the room than to
leave the room. Look.
We can all be open books.

The Air Between

I look up and breathe.
Both my eyes close
as I exhale. I see you
take a breath after
I take mine. The air
between us thickens.
The energy flowing
means that tension
is growing. The air
between you and I
forms an invisible
wall – one too small
to see through. The air
between us dances
back and forth.
Recycled over again,
the air between us
is more than a gust.
The air between us
knocks off the rust.
It shakes off the dust.
I look up and breathe.
I smile and take in
the air that we share.

We are the Same

We act different, appear different,
talk different, yet, we are the same.
We breathe and share the same air.
We are similar. We are familiar
with differences. Different things
separate different people. A wall
is broken down as people agree.
We see things a different way.
We fear what others might say.
We often forget; we are the same.
We are humans living and dying.
We came from the same place.
We will go to the same place.
The difference between me
and you is that you are you
and I am me. We are both here
conquering our deepest fear
on the same spinning sphere.

Around the Block

I’ve been around the block
to take walks or kick rocks.
I’ve seen the block get hot.
I’ve been there when it’s not.
My people have been around
the block and are down
to work around the clock.
This block has four sides
and I’ve seen each one.
I know everyone here. I do.
When people see me,
it isn’t anything new. It’s true.
See, I know this block well.
Each person here has a story
to tell, some about their block
and some about their cell.
I’ve been around the block
and others like me have, too.
This life is nothing new.
If I can’t be found, look around
the block: where I tend to walk.