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

Granular

Granular

Human perception is granular

Made up of lots of bits and pieces

That we happen to notice

Of the world around us

It never is really a complete picture

Of all that is possible to take in

Our worldviews are composites

Made of ideas and notions and expectations

Like the picture on your computer screen

Is made of many thousands of tiny dots of color

And the resolution of what we each perceive

Is made better when we increase the number

Of worldviews that we draw upon

Don't rely on the views

Of just one culture, religion,

Scientific discipline, or philosophy

All the better to paint

Your picture of the world

With as large a palette as you can muster

Dewey Dirks

The Ways We Have Fun

The Ways We Have Fun

Many times we think

Of the things we learn in life

In terms of what we are taught

By the strife, struggling and hard times

We each face in life

And many of us think it is only the difficult times

That have anything to teach us

But the lessons all of us can learn

From the ways we each entertain ourselves

Are just as valuable and important

The ways we have fun in life

Point the way to knowing

What we find truly valuable and fulfilling

The ways we have fun in life

Teach us each of laughter,

Of happiness and how to relax

The enjoyment we get in our pleasure time

Show us the way down the path

Of letting ourselves be who we really are

Much of our daily banter and blustering

Is about a supposed maturity

That we imagine to be very adult and serious

When the only real maturity to be found

Is in the journey back

To the sort of acceptance and love

That you knew how to have

When you were four years old

In the end, all any of us hope,

All any of use are,

And that all we aspire to be

Are the children of infinity

Dewey Dirks

Happy Mothers Day