Sense Of Style

Sense of Style

When I was a young guy

just getting started at being a writer

I happened to meet a fellow

who was a very accomplished guy

He seemed to be able to do it all

Paint, sculpt, write, and make music....

A real renaissance man.

I thought to myself, “That guy's got more talent

in just two fingers than I've got in my entire being.”

I was determined to discover his secret

and so one day when I saw him in the park

I wandered up and started a conversation.

After the small talk was over

and I felt like maybe we'd bonded a bit,

I asked him straight up,

“How on earth did you ever get to be so talented?”

“The guy seemed to ignore what I'd asked him

and instead started telling me a random story.

He said, “I kinda took most of last week off

and sat around thinking

about what I really value

and what way I think is the best way to be.

He stopped talking for a minute.

And just when I thought he was done,

He smiled and continued on......

'Long about Thursday evening

I remembered some stuff I believed when I was six

but kinda had forgotten

and cast aside in the daily rat-race

and fast-paced hustle of life as an adult.

When I was young I decided

the things a person really ought to try to do

is never to harm anyone

and try to be as truthful, honest, and sincere

as they know how to be.

The old guy paused a moment and lit a cigarette

Then he continued on talking

He said, “....And then I thought to myself,

maybe a lot of the time it's more important

to try to do those four things

than it is to try to always appear

cool, flashy and important.

I think what it really often boils down to

in the stuff I do as an adult.

is the question of whether

it's more important to me

to do no harm

and to be truthful, honest and sincere

or appear cool, flashy and important.

And I think I'd rather do the first four

than the last three.

He stopped to take a drag on his cigarette,

and I began to wonder what the point of his story was.

The old guy just continued on undaunted.

He said, “They say the only difference between

the men and the boys is the price of their toys

and I really believe that's true.

Inside us all

we each carry many memories of when we were small

and they help shape who we are and affect everything we do

from the time we're little clear up until we're ninety-two.

A few of the things I can say about me when I was six

is that I really liked things that looked very cool.

And I really liked all the variety in life.

I've always thought it's very, very cool

there's lots of different things

to see and think about.

I was a pretty good kid, but like every kid, I wasn't perfect

and I got into my share of small mischief a time or two. 

By the time I was six, I'd figured out

It was great to be the star of the show when I could.

But things usually went best

when me and my friends

took turns and shared the limelight in our little gang.

By six, I'd learned that just about all of the time

honesty was best

and even when I couldn't be entirely up front,

I knew telling part of the truth was most always much better

than being fake or telling a lie.

At six I loved to learn all kinds of things

and then tell everyone what it was I'd found out.

Of course, I loved to play.

I figured out that play could be a lot of work

and work could be a lot like playing too.

I knew there were times when I could be just a kid

and times when I had to be more of an adult

and I knew both ways could be a lot of fun.

Now that son, is a quick snapshot

Of who I really, really am

And if you look,

you can see bits of that six year old kid

in everything I think, say and do.”

By now, I'd pretty much forgotten

what it was I had asked the guy

And so I said,

“But geeze!  I was a brat when I was a kid.”

The old man, brought me back

to the point of our conversation

when he smiled and said,

“Well, personally, I think it's very good

the world has all kinds of people.

And aren't a lot of really great artist's

like Van Halen and Kid Rock

not much more than great big brats

with a great sense of style?

And I'll tell you a secret---I'd bet if you look closely

At all those bad-ass bikers riding their work-of-art Harley's

All those women and men raising families,

working hard to make ends meet

and all those fighter pilots in their fighter planes.

You can see hints of

a big bunch of runny nose kid's playing

runny nose kid games

who don't want to go home

until an hour after dark.” 

Dewey Dirks

Small Things

Small Things

Just last Wednesday I had a blowout with my wife

When all the shouting and throwing things was done

I figured I'd better get out of the house

Take a walk, I told myself

Let things cool down to a low boil

I walked slowly down the street

To the park three blocks up and three blocks over

There I bought some stale bread at the hot dog stand

Found a bench and sat down by an old man wrinkled and gray

We were quiet for a long while

Throwing bit's and bites of wheat bread

To the pigeon's that wandered by now and then

The old guy had the kind hint of a permanent smile

He seemed quite happy and very content

Got me wondering what advice he might give me

There from the twilight of his life

I said, “Old man, I'll tell you

Life at thirty-two looks pretty damn bad

What makes you so happy

With you in your eighties

And death's door waiting to open just down the street?”

He smiled a little more and said in a voice soft and quiet

“You know, when I was young I wanted a whole lot of things

Later, I learned to want a few things a whole lot

But in the fullness of time I've found

That  much of what has given me

The greatest happiness in life

Can all be put into just one word.”

“And what word is that?” I asked

His eyes sparkled

As he gave a good-hearted bit of bread to a bird

“Linore,” he said

“She is my lady

Linore waits for me at home

In a little while, I'll get up from this bench

And wander on back

I'll probably find her in the dining room

With a calico cat on her lap

When I walk in, she'll look up kindly and say

“Hi baby, how did it go for you today?””

Listen son, Linore is just a tiny little thing

Like me, she has gone very gray

But when I look at her I see

A half a million memories all rolled up inside

Half a million things to think about

Lingering quietly there in her turquoise eyes

They are small things

Stuff you'd hardly mention day-to-day

Things that most people never even notice

Or take for granted and cast aside

But I think about them all day long, every day

In Linore I see ten-thousand kisses

Scattered across fifty-five years

Ten-thousand times her soft hair

Has brushed up against my arm

Ten-thousand times her head has rested on my chest

Ten-thousand conversations

Bright or wise, idle or sad

Ten-thousand jokes and wise cracks

Adding a little happy spice and pepper

To the passing days

Ten-thousand smiles

Ten-thousand “I love you's”

Always from the soul, always good to hear

And at the end of ten-thousand tough days

Ten-thousand cuddles in bed after the lights went out

Ten-thousand times we have taken each others hand

Ten-thousand times I've felt her gentle embrace

Ten-thousand times her face has lifted up my day

Ten-thousand times I've looked in her eyes

And seen the bright spark that dances inside

Small things

Things you'd hardly notice

But if you weave them all together

Across the long, long years

They tell a grand tale

That is epic and eloquent and entirely uncommon

A tale written by two small souls

With two small pens

A story written by Linore and I

That is worth telling over and over again

Now son, you get up and go on home

And when you do, keep to the small things

Keep them handy

Keep them close by

Keep on remembering them

They are what will get you through the long years ahead

They can make your life heroic

A romance that you live every day

If you let them, they can be ten-thousand things

That together

Are so much more than just a bunch of parts

Dewey Dirks

Where You Stand

Where You Stand

In my youth, I asked myself

“What way is best

for people to behave?”

Then one day

my tortoiseshell cat, Carrie

came to get me to stay by her side

when it was time

for her to have her first litter.

I remember her green eyes,

worried and hopeful

as if to ask for a comforting touch.

Then I knew it's best

to have empathy and care

for all souls, animal and human.

Years later, one sad morning

someone hit me hard and vindictively.

I asked life why they would

do a thing like that.

Later that day,

another person confided in me,

“You never really have known pain

until you look someone

you love very much in the eye

and see only the bare glare

of blank daylight gleaming back.”

I knew then humans

strike out only because

of fear, ignorance, or pain.

For many years

I asked, “Is there a God?”

Then one evening I saw

a sunset that bathed me

with a quiet golden air

so beautiful that I wept.

And I knew then

that it doesn't matter

if there's a God or not.

It is sufficient to know

that there ought to be.

Now, it's a fact

questions are as common

as blue June sky.

One of the secrets in life, my friend

is that if you have

the eyes and heart to see

answers are too.

Long ago, I decided

what I wanted most in life

was to learn.

It took me years to realize

that life gives us each

an endless supply

of change, curiosity,

questions, and answers.

It's just up to each of us

to decide to use them.

Leave half a glass of water

setting in the street,

and a few will

stand around arguing

whether it's is half empty

or half full,

till somebody else

wanders by and offers

someone who's thirsty a drink.

Good to know

it's usually more the matter

of where you choose to stand

than of what you go through.

Dewey Dirks

Law of Synchronicity

Mud and Dirt

Sea of Life

Drops of Water

Drops of Water

Life is a great flowing river

all that happens each day

are spreading waves, eddy’s

and waterfalls

natural to the flow of water

natural to the flow of life.

We each are drops of water

all of us

on a long journey

as the stream

nudges and twirls

us all along

Within every day

you'll find moments

of mayhem

moments of peace

moments of action

moments of stillness

moments to learn

moments to teach

moments to rest

moments to laugh

moments to love

moments to strive

moments to act and react

moments to be helped by others

moments to help others along.

Those who are

frightened, ignorant

or endlessly arrogant

resist and fight

their way through their days

never satisfied

with themselves

never satisfied

with what they think

their life is supposed to be.

If you are wiser

you learn to live each moment

as it arrives

knowing that whatever

is happening right now

is raw material in life

and it's up to you to make it

what it is supposed to be.

Now, the river has

an inner peace in its flow

natural to everything

that is as it should be.

One of the things we

each must learn

is to dwell in that

place of peace in ourselves

that is always a part

of the flow of the river

finding ourselves

at the end of each day

right where we should be.

Dewey Dirks

Tidy Home

Alive

Alive

If you're still alive

And have yet

To taste the bitter mote

Of adversity

Strong enough

To break steel

You still have

Something to learn

If you're still alive

And have not yet

Discovered true love

Shining on the far side

Of that adversity

You still

Have something

To learn

If you're still alive

And you have

Loved truly

For even one day

You still

Have something

To teach

Dewey Dirks

Shape Up

Piece Of Peace

The School

The School

Long, long ago

near the pebbly shores

of the Mediterranean blue

there was an old school of philosophy.

For four hundred years

it taught boys and young men

into their twenties

the ways of rhetoric and wisdom.

To help fund the school

the students would search

the nearby beaches for garnets

which they would put

into small, clear bauble jars sealed with wax

to sell in town.

One afternoon a pair of the older students,

with two heads of black hair and brown skin,

Pedro, and Sharif, were down at a cafe talking

about the days search on the beach.

Pedro took a drink of his tea

and proudly said, “This morning I found twenty garnets.

That's enough to fill two bauble jars.

Sharif, nodded and said,

“You did good then. As for me,

I swam looking in the waters near the rocks.

Eventually, I found clams and therein

eight white pearls, enough for two more jars.”

Pedro, scowled, “You are foolish,” he said in a hurry,

“We only sell garnets!

In the time you found eight pearls

you could have found enough garnets to fill four jars.”

Pedro's words were like a sharp slap to him.

Sharif bowed his head in sudden anger

and quickly changed the subject.

Soon, he finished his tea, excused himself

and returned to the school.

Later, as the gold afternoon sun

swam slowly down the sky

Sharif sat talking to Carib, the school master,

who wore a long gray robe, walking stick beside him.

He told Carib of his conversation with Pedro,

then he asked,

“Master, was Pedro wrong to criticize me?”

Or am I the one who is foolish

just as Pedro says?”

“Why do you think Pedro was upset?”

asked master Carib.

“He thought I was foolish,” answered Sharif.

“Look deeper,” said Carib.

Sharif thought a few moments, then he said,

“Perhaps he was threatened by my success

at finding pearls.”

“And why do you still feel bad

about the conversation?” asked Carib.

“Because I was angered so easily,” answered Sharif.

“Don't look to where you fell, my son.

Look to where you slipped,” said master Carib.

The student thought for a minute then said,

“Pedro accosted my sense of success, so I was angry.”

“What should you therefore do?” asked Carib.

“I should not depend on my deeds of accomplishment

to define my self-worth, but look to my soul instead.”

“And so who made you angry? asked master Carib.

“I myself did,” grinned the student.

Master Carib smiled softly.

As the sun slid below the horizon,

fading to deep blue and orange

he extended his hand to Sharif and said,

“You have freed yourself, my son.

You graduate tomorrow

young master.”

Dewey Dirks

Part Of Nature

Wonder

Life Allows and Define Yourself

 

Truth

Three

Wordless

Sam I Am

Two For Your Heart

Aquillerelle Magazine 9

I'm happy to announce one of my poems has been published in Aquillrelle Magazine 9 Jan-April. Please drop by Lulu.com and check out Aquillrelle's fine magazine:

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Kinds of Paths

Kinds of Paths

We all are born unknowing

We all have many questions

All look for answers, and strive through our lives

As best we can

Humans are pretty dumb creatures sometimes

And so try as we might

We've only come up with two ways

For finding our way across the land

There are those who follow trails blazed for them

Then there's individuals who strike out by themselves

Making their own paths across the sand

Followers always find a hero

Like Jesus, Mohammad, or Buddha

They listen to his words very carefully

And try to follow his lead as best they can

Individuals follow only themselves

Are very stubborn, question everything

And listen to only to advice of their choosing

Whenever, and from wherever it happens to land

I've known lots of individuals and followers alike

Individuals faults are many and varied

Followers almost always only have two

They always have too much faith in what some other guy once said

And they always believe their hero was something more than just a man

Individuals doubt practically everything but their own right to choose

Followers sometimes resent it if you doubt their hero

And always doubt most, their ability to decide what to do

Often no love is lost

Between those who take different kinds of paths

Followers think irreverence is improper

While individuals find devotion irritating

Better that each should treat the other

Like fans of a different baseball team

Because the only real difference between them

Is what they aim their doubt at

And how many different kinds of advice they listen to

Now, I've always been my own kind of man

And if you were to ask me,

I would just have to say:

Strive always to be an individual

Summon the faith that you can find your own path

Follow only yourself

Find wise words wherever you can

And if ever we should meet

With a grin and a shake of the hand

I'll say “You know, I think your leader is quite an individual

He is a wise, wise man”

If you insist on following a blazer of paths

I suggest you follow my good friend, Prophet Hank

Hank is Gods brothers second cousin twice removed

Right next to Jesus and Buddha

He's got a seat at Gods dinner table

And when it's time for desert, he always gets first dibs

On Gods special peach-schnapps pie

He's got Gods word all written down

On platinum plates

Inscribed with a silver pen

He's got a nine point plan

That will turn you into an uber-man

Follow it faithfully

And pretty soon you'll feel pure bliss

All Tuesday morning and every Friday afternoon

To top it all off, I've personally seen him

Wave around incense

Right up there with the best of them

Dewey Dirks

Heaven and Earth

Heaven and Earth

Some say heaven is high above us

and hell lies far below.

Some say that life for most is hell in a hand basket

but that for a few it’s pure bliss.

Some say earth is the land of labor

where day by day we all break our backs.

But you know, life is a long, long walk

with more than one place to go

and more than one place to stop.

What you get back

has a lot to do with what you put in.

And what we think we see

can be a tricky thing

because life is inside of you

and outside at the same time.

Life is trouble for each of us

some of the time

but little bits of heaven

touch us all every day

in the smiles of strangers

in the touch of your lover

in the eyes of a child

in jokes from a friend

in the purr of your cat

in the wag of a dogs tail

where the love you give out

is the love you get back.

Now, those bits of heaven

that you have every day

can carry you through a lifetime

like a river flowing out to the sea.

But don’t hold on too tightly

as the moments pass by.

Love and happiness

enjoyed for a moment then released

return to visit

more than once each day.

The roads we take

can be a hard, winding ride.

We all know

what this old world can do.

If you loose your way

just hold a newborn babe in your hands.

Little bits of life

spread all around five minutes at a time

grow into eighty years of good memories

like a great field of cool green grass

stretching out across the long years behind.

Dewey Dirks

Art of Life

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Art of Life --Live, Love, Learn

Splashes

Love Unity and Magic

I'm happy to announce the web journal “Love Unity and Magic” has published one of my poems. Be sure to drop by there and take a look at all their fine posts. Here is the link: http://www.loveunitymagic.com/fiction#.UW6Zg8r4FRc

Judgments

One Person At A Time

More Than It Seems

Gunrunner Novel For FREE

 

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Silent Running

Education and Don't Know Much

The Gift Beetle

Atomic Pub #6

I'm pleased to announce one of my poems has been featured over at Atomic Pub Issue #6.  Drop on by there to see all their fine poetry, art and essays. They also have a good newsfeed, so be sure to check that out as well.

Atomic Pub Issue #6

Giving And Receiving

Unteach Yourself

The Sacred Dance

On The Long Road

Artists Everyone

Souls

Questions

Remember

Three-Thirty

Whispers

Sapphire Dragon

The Sapphire Dragon

Of muses the ancients
knew only nine
while wise Shakespeare
knew of a tenth
though truth be known
there are many more
but most remain hidden
from the minds of men
Here now comes the tale
of the old and wise
Sapphire Dragon
a muse of great heart
and kindness to all mankind

Now, dragons come and go
There are dragons wise
and dragons foolish
but it's said
the most foolish dragon
is still wiser than most men
There are dragons in the air,
and on the ground,
and dragons beneath the sea
Dragons made of flesh and bone
dragons of ice and fire
dragons of water
dragons of brown earth and stone
dragons of light
and dragons made out of nothing at all
Some dragons are always up to mayhem
Some dragons
don't concern themselves
with man at all
still others are very kind and help men
these we call muses and memes


Many thousands long years ago
in a time now lost to our memories
man was like every other creature
on our planet
we could feel
the divine heartbeat of life
and we could hear the great song
all the universe sings as one

Then a terrible illness befell our species
and man alone among life on earth
became deaf to the grand music
that surrounds us all
Soon too we lost our ability
to talk to other animals
and feel in our mortal hearts and minds
the song of our own eternal souls

Blind to the flow of life
men began to fear and hunt dragons
and like other creatures when they are sick,
we started the bad habit of destroying
our own homes in the forests and savannas
and bringing much mayhem
to the land and creatures around us

A great council was called
among the wisest dragons
to see what could done
to cure humans of our strange illness
and restore us to harmony with all life
It was resolved among the council
to teach man new ways of living,
new ways of thinking,
new ways to look upon the world
in the hope that by our increasing
our knowledge man would once again
also discover true wisdom

Over many thousands of years
the great dragon muses
slowly taught men
writing, and mathematics,
science and philosophy,
to live in villages and cities,
to sow crops, create great art and music
and to form governments and religions


A very wise and ancient
dragon made of brilliant blue light
known simply as the Sapphire Dragon,
was given the task of teaching
man to hear once again
the great song of life

Dragons all know the secret of shape shifting
so, in 570 BC disguised as a beggar
the Sapphire Dragon went to China
where the Zhou Dynasty then ruled
He searched many years
for the most intelligent
human he could find
After much trouble and many adventures
he picked a young boy named Li Dan.

After revealing his true form
to his new student
and with young Li Dan upon his back,
the great Sapphire Dragon flew
to the Greek city states and again
searched for several years
teaching Li Dan all the while
the ways of the flow of life
After much time and many more adventures
he settled upon a young boy of wealth
from the city of Ephesus
named Heraclitus. 

Now with two students,
the Sapphire Dragon
and his young companions
retired to deep in the Ural mountains
where he taught them diligently
until they each were in their twenties
then he returned both of them
to their native lands
where they each taught
men of ancient wisdom
just as great Sapphire Dragon
had taught them. 

Li Dan came to be known as Lao Tzu
meaning 'old master'
After a lifetime of teaching
Lao Tzu, now a master librarian
in the imperial archives,
grew tired to the ways of men
and prepared to retire to the wilderness
in the west of China
As he was leaving the imperial city
a young guard at the gates named Yin Hse
recognized him and begged Lao Tzu
that he go with him as his student
After much time passed
now old and near death,
Lao Tzu gave Yin Hse a book
that summed up his wisdom
called the “Tao Te Ching” meaning
“The Way and The Virtue”
wherein he taught of the flow of life
which he called “Tao”meaning “The Way”

Meanwhile, in Asia Minor Heraclitus
also became a great and wise teacher
relating to his students
of the way of life
which in his tongue
he called “Logos” meaning “Formula”
He taught that Logos permeates all things
and steers the course of all existence
In his later years, like his old friend
Li Dan, Heraclitus grew weary
of the stubborn ways of men
and came to be known
as the weeping philosopher 

Much of what Heraclitus taught
has been lost to the sands of time
but Lao Tzu's book has weathered the years
and can still be found
upon the bookshelves of men
where it is considered to be
among the greatest books
ever written.

Dewey Dirks

Thank Life

A Thousand Moments

Compassion

Compassion

Once a man stood quietly

on a September street corner.

He held up a sign

that quoted Hippocrates,

It said, “The soul is the same

in all living creatures,

although the body of each

is different.”

As a woman walked by

she remarked,

“I agree completely!

Except the human race

is pretty disgusting

compared to the rest.”

“Dear woman,” said the man,

“If you don't condemn the Earth

and you don't condemn Earths

creatures, why then

do you condemn man alone?

All creatures, including man

are sons and daughters of

the same Mother Earth.

Like cats, we are curious.

Like dogs, we are loyal

to our allegiances.

Just as bees,

we are social creatures.

We sing like whales,

build metropolises like termites,

forge empires like ants,

and bury our dead

like prairie dogs.

Like many animals,

we have great compassion

for our young.

Like many creatures,

we stand by our chosen mates

to the death.

Look upon

your fellow humans

humanely and with compassion

and you soon

will begin to notice

compassion in others as well

Now, it's true,

there are a few people

who do terrible things

but remember, my friend,

someone wiser than I

once said that humanity

is a great ocean of life.

If a few drops are dirty

it doesn't

spoil the whole sea.”

Dewey Dirks

The Dreaming

The Dreaming

It's not the destination

that fills your heart

with sweet life

but the long journey there

It's not the creation

you adore

but the act of creating

that's important

Some say the ancients

knew this well

in a time long forgotten

It's not the sun

up in the sky

there to be worshiped

but the sunlight

given freely to all

that lends us life

It's not the dream you dream

that befriends your lonely heart

but the dreaming

Dewey Dirks