A Lot With Just a Little

A Lot With Just a Little

I've always been interested in cars

although I've not bought

any cool ones myself in many years,

I've always kept an eye out

whenever I drive down the street

for cars worth seeing.

Years ago when I was young

my friends and I used to laugh

at this old junker Plymouth that this guy

drove all over the town where I lived.

I never met the dude, but his car

was old and dented with faded brown paint.

On the side he spray painted in large, sloppy

letters a sign that said “Jeff Barts, Private Eye.”

It wasn't until years later,

long after I'd moved away that I realized

that Mr. Barts was a young man to be respected

because even though he had next to nothing,

he was striving to realize his dreams in life

with the resources he had at the time.

A few years back, a friend and I used to go

to this parking lot in town where early

Sunday mornings lots of people gathered

who had fast and exotic cars

to show off their rides and chat

over coffee and beer.

Amongst all the Cobra's,

Viper's, Ferrari’s, Porsche's

and six hundred horsepower

Corvette's there was this guy

who showed up every Sunday

with a clunky faded green

'75 Ford Gran Torino with a white vinyl top

that had a 400 Cleveland with a blower

sticking out of the hood.

It was obvious that he'd done

all the work himself with sloppy

liquid metal beads around the edges

of plexiglass windows, badly wound

aluminum tape on the hoses

and klunky orange paint

on the brake drums that didn't match

the rest of the car.

His Torino stood out like a sore thumb

there amongst all those high dollar rides.

All the other owners shunned him

and chuckled at his car.

I chatted with him once.

He was very proud of his ride

and all the work he'd put into it.

I listened to him talk thinking to myself

that here was another man who was striving

towards his dreams in life come hell or high water.

Of all the people gathered there, he was the one

you just had to respect because even though

he didn't have much, he did his best

with whatever he had.

Whenever you see someone

who is the black sheep of the crowd,

whenever you see someone going for

whatever dreams they have in life

without much to work with

except loads of enthusiasm,

make sure to chat with them.

Give them encouragement

and a kind word.

Remember, the misfits,

and the odd ones out

are often the ones

who have the strongest will and deepest love

for the life that flows in their veins.

When comes the time for humanity

to save itself, it will be the odd ones,

the misfits and the black sheep

who have the most

experience at doing

a lot with just a little.

Likely as not the future

of our species will rest with them.

Dewey Dirks

Good Grace

Good Grace

The other day I was talking

with a friend about the things

that I write.

She said, “I've noticed that most

of the poems you write

are uplifting and positive.”

I said, “Well, I write what

I know and what is in my heart.”

She said, “Certainly you must have

bad things happen to you too.”

I told her, “Yes, I've had very terrible

things happen but my experiences

in life have taught me that

if you are willing to look for it,

there are virtually always upsides

to the things that happen.

You know that scene from

Star Wars where the two Jedi

have to make it past a giant blast door

to get at the bad guys on the other side,

so they put their light sabers

into the door and after a few minutes

they just burn through the door?

The kind and good grace

of some of the things

that have happened to me

are like those light sabers---

They are of such a great

and powerful proportion,

that after awhile, their memory

manages to burn through

anything terrible

that happens to me.

Sometimes things happen to you

that you never really get over

some of them are bad, but there are

others as well even more lasting

that are good.

When I write, I keep the good

things in mind because

the memory of them outshines

just about anything else

that has ever happened to me.”

Dewey Dirks

Delusions

Delusions

The other morning

I had a long conversation

with a young man who suffered

from paranoid delusions.

Breathlessly he explained

to me how an insidious group

called the Bungalow Cabal

had been bugging his phone

and messing with his computer

for many years.

He said no one would help him

and that the cops and government

officials were in on it too.

Later in the day

I sat down at coffee

in a bar where everyone

was watching

the soccer championships

down in Brazil.

I had to ask myself

which is the greater delusion?

Those of a man

scared and all alone whose

point of view is socially unfashionable

and whose ideas hurt only himself,

or the international delusion

that it's perfectly fine for a country

to spend many billions building

sports arenas on the broken backs

of poor people who need

food, clinics, and schools

and then broadcast

weeks of games while the police

and military rob the people

of their rights to protest the oppression

so the rest of the world can

enjoy the spectacle of soccer games

either unaware or uncaring

of all the mayhem.

Dewey Dirks

Animals Speak

Education

Education

All the world

is pretty much the same everywhere.

There are cities full of people

and countryside outside of town

both farmed and wild.

All the world over,

we work daily,

come home and tend to our families.

There are people we talk to,

people we love, and many people

we see but do not know.

Don't trust the sitcoms,

talkshows, and news to teach you.

Don't depend on Facebook, Twitter

and YouTube...keep it real, my friend

Remember, your real education

begins when you leave college

and turn off your TV and smartphone.

All the world is around you all the time.

Nature is a teacher

who will not steer you wrong.

Let the world

and your neighborhood

be your school in life...

Learn from your intuition.

Let your soul teach you wisdom.

Look for kindness around you

---sometimes it's subtle and hidden

by the false bravado and daily banter

of peoples pride.

We all live under one sky.

We all breath

the same kind of oxygen

and drink the same kind of water.

We all want to love and be loved

we all want happiness and to feel useful

we all feel fear and anxiety

from time to time.

The great lies of our time are three---

That national borders

make us different from one another.

That there is more

that is wrong in the world

than there is that is right.

And that our civilization has removed

us all so far from nature

that we cannot learn from it.

Dewey Dirks

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Free

Free

All the Earth is teeming with life.

All the world around you,

the sky above you,

and in the ground below

is filled with living creatures,

although most of them

are far too small for you to see.

You and all the living creatures

around you are equals by virtue

of the sparks of life

that propel us each and all.

By virtue of both biology and spirit.

you are part of that life

and all of them are part of you.

When you put down your sense

of human self-importance for awhile

along with all the twirls and twists

of desires, wants and needs

that are part of human existence

and let all the rest of you---

All that is part

of the living world around

come to the forefront

of your consciousness,

a great weight

lifts from your being

and you become indelibly aware

of what you really are---

a spark of life

that is part of the sky,

the ground, and the sea

alive only for the joy of existing

living in a primordial wilderness

rich and full with life

bright and fresh,

breathing peace,

wild and free.

Dewey Dirks

Meter of Our Stride

Meter of Our Stride

When he invents something,

no man is so wise

that he can foresee

all the consequences

of the things he creates,

and so we invent blindly

compelled by our passions for knowledge

not knowing what the future

of mankind might be

because of our creations.

Human ingenuity

creates largely unconsciously

in our walking sleep.

What lights the spark

of our imaginations

know one knows

but this much is sure---

It is guided by as yet

unknown natural principles.

We can see the traces

of these principles

when we view such

mysteries as why

the researchers

in competing companies and countries

can only invent new

technologies at approximately

the same pace,

and why certain advancements

in human understanding such as calculus

were invented by different people

at about the same time

when the inventors were widely separated

and had no contact with one another.

What is clear, is that human

creativity, like all products of evolution,

only advances at a certain pace.

No one yet can tell

what meters our stride.

We all are children

of Mother Nature and of our times.

Our creativity is a result

of our spirits and our biology,

combined with

a small bit of natural randomness

built into each of us.

Mother Nature

evolves our biology

and only she

knows of what our spirits are made,

from whence they came,

and to where they will return.

Dewey Dirks

Line to Tow

Line to Tow

Everyone who lives

on Mother Earth.

Everyone you ever meet.

Everyone you ever know.

Everyone you don't know.

All of us here have a line to tow

---things that we each

need to learn in life.

Some need learn

to control themselves,

some need to learn to let go.

Some need to learn not to

doubt themselves so much,

some need to learn

that they're not always right.

Some need to learn

to be more giving,

some need to learn

that they're as important

as those they try to help.

Some need to learn how powerful

their spirit really is,

others need to learn

we all are just living specks

on one tiny blue dot

among billions upon billions of others.

Some need to learn more patience,

some need to learn

when enough is enough.

Some need to learn

they can take care of themselves,

others need to learn

it's OK to let others help them.

Some need to learn to be

more trusting of others,

some need to learn to be

more cautious.

Some need to learn

to not be so believing of their culture,

some need to learn to have faith

that nature knows

what she's doing

by evolving people.

Some need to learn not to

act without a little forethought,

others need to learn

when to have some faith

and jump into the unknown.

Some need to learn

to love wonder and learning,

others need to learn

when they've learned enough.

Some need to learn to ask

themselves a few questions,

Some need to learn

to have some faith

in the answers they've found.

Some need to find out

what they need to learn,

some need to learn

what they need to unlearn.

Some need to learn love and affection

come in many kinds,

some need to learn how to give

of their soul

and love with their entire being.

Dewey Dirks

Rivers

Rivers

Each life passes

like the journey

of water

on a great river.

Rise to meet

each morning anew

and accept what brings

the river that day.

Some days are rushed

with the toss and tumble

of white-water rapids.

Other days flow gently by,

barely moving

with the kind stillness

of back-water eddies.

Take care to discover

what there is to enjoy

in each rolling day.

Remember, variety is one

of the joys of life.

All things pass,

good, bad and in-between.

We all will meet once again

in the vast blue oceans

from which all waters come

and to which all rivers return.

Dewey Dirks

Sam

Sam

My cat, Sam I Am

jumped into my lap

to get a few pets tonight

he and I, we're fast friends

He loves wholly

with the pure emotion

of a child

---arches his back

into my hands,

bumps his head

on my chin,

purrs a deep

diesel engine purr,

and kneads his paws

on my leg

I pet him with two hands

appreciating his company

enormously

I know he'll be my muse

later on tonight

and lend himself

to be in a poem

If you believe the notion

animals have souls

you look at them

more as you would

another human

rather than as something

somehow of less stature

in the eyes of nature

And Sam, well, he

gives love back

with every place

in his furry body

that his heart

pumps blood

It is good

to love that way

just ask Sam

Dewey Dirks

Deep Inside

Deep Inside

We all have a great beauty

deep inside

but many times it is hidden

by an ugly ego

or a clump of ignorance.

It is up to each of us to journey

until we can feel and see

this beauty in ourselves,

in those around us,

and in the world.

When the beauty

of a persons soul

is near the surface

of their being

you can see

its brilliant radiance

shining clear and gentle

regardless of their

physical appearance.

Dewey Dirks