Many Sided

Many Sided

The truth is not always beautiful

Nor is it always cold or hard to accept

Very many of the things

That people argue over

Are actually many-sided truths

Whose distinguishing characteristic

Is that opposing ideas

Can both carry equal portions of truth

Like a gem that shines one color

When you hold it a certain way

And a different color

When you turn it another

Failure to recognize that truths

Are very often multi-sided is the source

Of much of the discontent in the world

And the reason why a very wise man once said,

'Say not “I have found the truth,”

But rather, “I have found a truth”

Say not “I have found the path of the soul”

Say rather, “I have met the soul

Walking on my path”'

Dewey Dirks

Win-Win

Win-Win

Someone famous once said

'There are those

Who want to abuse you,

Those who want to be abused,

Those who want to use you

And those who want to be used'

But they forgot to mention

Those who want to share

And to be shared

Whomever seeks to create

Win-win relationships

With those that they journey beside

Will find themselves

Among the unspoken legislators

Of human discourse upon Mother Earth

Symbionts are the hidden tillermen of Mankind

Dewey Dirks

I See You Now

I See You Now

When we were young

we used to say to each other

that when you die

your soul goes back

to the Summerlands

to live with the Earth Mother

in the rocks, the sky, and clouds

and the leafy green trees.

Now, we both knew to believe that

but back then they were

only so many words

we told each other

around the table

to comfort ourselves

the loss of our loved ones.

Until today...

Today I saw you there

lingering in the pearlescent light

of the sun coming

through the window.

You filled the room

with a love song

and I filled the room

with tears of joy.

I walked outside

and I heard your voice

in the gusty wind

rustling through the trees.

You were there

waiting to meet me.

I heard your laugh,

I heard your lilting voice,

saw you raise your colors,

heard your rebel creed,

and yes, the tears

of your sorrow too---

all part of white spring clouds

and the deep blue sky

all around me.

They say each soul

is a limitless eternity,

that in life we each

condense like drops of water

into the confines of our bodies,

and that when we die,

we cross the blue doorway

to become once again,

part of the timeless time

of boundless infinity.

In the darkness

we traveled through

you taught me how to see

the unfeigned shine

of the sun, the moon,

and the stars filling the skies

with the breath of light.

Now I know how to look

and I see you now,

as you once and always were.

A single drop in a vast ocean

and the whole ocean itself,

singing the songs of life

along with all eternity.

Dewey Dirks

The Four Quests

The Four Quests

All of human endeavor

All the things we do

All the ways we act

All the things we make

Al the things we think

All the things we say

All the things we feel

All the things we don't say

Can all be gathered into efforts

To satisfy four quests

We strive

To increase our adaptability

To the ceaseless change

In the environment

We quest to find beauty

In ourselves and in the world,

We seek to increase

Our awareness and understanding

Of the Universe around us,

Or the things we do

Are an expression of love

Or a request for love

Now, beauty is only an auspicious

Arrangement of Nature

And adaptability

Is just the knack

Of making auspicious things

Endure through time

And what are understanding

And auspicious arrangements of Nature?

Well, that is what love is---

That and something we each need to feel

That extends far, far beyond

The conveyance of any words

Dewey Dirks

Small Happenings

Small Happenings

Amanda was a young woman,

Very petite and very pretty

Tending bar down at the Inn

Long blond hair and kind words

With a sincere smile

And an honest way about her

I watched her carry ice in from the back

In two five gallon buckets

After she was finished

I said, “You know, you're the first

Person I've seen in quite some time

Who didn't make that ice

Look like it was heavy.

And you're just a tiny thing.”

She smiled back and said,

“I study the martial arts

And I'm very strong but it fools people,

'Cause I'm not very big”

As she turned to help another customer,

I watched her move with the grace

Of a forest cat, lithe and free,

And I thought of tnt---

Which is much force in a little package,

Of swallows who are very small birds

Yet every year fly many thousand of miles

To journey between distant continents

With great strength of wing,

And I thought of how the greatest portions

Of love in life are always found

In the smallest of happenings

Dewey Dirks

Manifest

Manifesting

If you intend to manifest anything at all

You need to remember four things;

That you are breathing,

That the place

In which you dwell is very big,

That there are many others here with you,

And that all things are one thing

And ten-thousand things

At the very same time

You also need to remember

That your conscious mind

Knows what you really want to happen

Only about half of the time

But your spirit always knows

What you really want and need all of the time

And your spirit is the only thing about you

That is powerful enough

To manifest anything at all

You also need to remember

That while all you need

Is already inside of you

And you need to look no further than

What dwells within,

Manifesting anything is always

An interaction between you and the Universe

And always represents an agreement

Between you and Life itself

The Universe is all around you

And all inside of you at the same time

Manifesting is much more

Than just wishing very hard,

It is you reaching deep inside yourself

To touch your soul

And your soul reaching out

To touch all Life

What happens to you, my friend,

All that you encounter,

All that you see and all that you do

Are dances you dance

With Life itself 

 Dewey Dirks

Strange

Strange

Imagine for a minute

How strangely

Arranged the world

We live in might be---

Well, you can be certain

That no matter what

You happen to imagine,

It's arranged stranger than that

Everything that lives has a soul---

Tiny bits of the divine

Distributed in equal measure

Among many trillions of living beings

When comes the day

You happen into your own soul

You'll likely think you've found God

We all live in a giant sea of life

On a tiny blue dot up in the sky

Life here extends fifty thousand feet

Up into the air

And about eight thousand feet

Down into the ground

Look around my friend, you live

About eight thousand feet

Up from the bottom

In a grand ocean of souls

And most of us live our entire lives

Without ever knowing it

Pretty much everything

In the Universe is connected

To everything else

In a vast, vast, intricately woven

Sea of connections

And those goofy little ditties

Of creativity that we call intelligence

Are just the ability

Of our minds

To notice and utilize

The tiny, tiny fraction

Of all those connections

That we are adapted and able

To find relevant

And the links of causation

We've built our sciences

And logic around?

Those are just special cases

Of inference that we're adapted

To perceive and use

Life is art in motion

An artist is one who is able

To find tiny pieces of what's enchanted

And put them to paper,

Canvas or string

Though often it remains hidden

By the illusion of our waking dreams

In our Universe, love, humor,

Grace and beauty prevail

And deep in our souls

We each already know it

Dewey Dirks

Visit me at Art Of Life

facebook.com/ArtOfLifeLiveLoveLearn

I'm now accepting donations through PayPal

To donate, go to https://www.paypal.com/home

Click 'Send' and enter my e-mail address:

Hilight7000@gmail.com

Thank you very much for helping me

continue my work, Dewey

Dances

Dances

There have been times in my life

When I've felt unspeakable pain and fear

And times when I've seen

Those whom I love

Suffer mind breaking pain as well

While I watched, unable to help

Of the two, I can tell you

The second is far, far worse

I've known love with another

That runs so deep in our souls

It will never know death

I've also seen and felt

To the very core of my existence

The simple joy

That quietly lives in all things

Like a pond of pure, clear water

And I've listened to something

Of the great lilting melody

To which all life moves

Joseph Campbell once said

"Find a place inside where there's joy,

And the joy will burn out the pain"

Which, I think, are very wise words

That couldn't be more true

When I was a young man

Hanging out with my dad,

When he was talking

Every once in awhile

He would become so emotional

That he'd almost burst into tears

At the time, I didn't know

There was no shame in it

And I was embarrassed by his openness

Now, many years have gone by

I've crossed many deep canyons,

Danced grand dances

With those whom I love very much

And I've climbed many mountain tops,

And, I too, find myself with tears

In my eyes welling sometimes when I talk

And now I know what dad

Was feeling way back then;

His tears were memories

Of the dances he'd danced

Dropping by to visit him

Dewey Dirks

Saving Yourself

Saving Yourself

There is only one person

who can save you

and that is yourself.

The only things you need

to save yourself from

are your own

fear and prejudice.

You overcome your

fears and prejudice

by learning to

care for yourself

as Mother Earth

cares for you.

When you learn

to have compassion

for your own shortcomings,

you also learn to have

compassion for the shortcomings

in everyone else

and all the world as well.

As your fears and prejudice

begin to subside

you'll become ever more aware

of many things that

you've been doing right all this time

and many things

that life has been doing for years

to help you along.

A lack of compassion for others

is a sure indication

of a lack of compassion

for yourself.

If you want to do your part

to save the world

you need only to set yourself right

after that everything

will fall into place.

Lighting the bright flames

of love and compassion in yourself

goes far in lighting

the flames of compassion

in all whom

you come into contact with.

In the fullness of time, you'll find

the world doesn't need saving

so much as it needs

to be loved.

Likewise, you'll come to find

that you don't need saving either.

What you need is to love

and to be loved.

Dewey Dirks

Justice

Justice

I think the justice of the Universe

Is found in that in the end,

Everything is made useful

No loss so tragic

That from it cannot spring hope

No sorrow furrowed so deep

That from it cannot grow gentleness

No scar so ugly

That from it a light does not shine

No human with imperfections so uneven

That from them

Cannot birth his humanity

Dewey Dirks

Bravest Woman

Bravest Woman

I am a working woman

with children almost grown.

I'm nearly fifty.

I hope I still have a pretty face.

My husband died almost three years ago.

One cold winter day

a old man shot him dead

through our kitchen window.

He was the father of a thirty year old woman

and he thought my husband

was having an affair with his daughter

down at the bar where he used to go.

Life isn't fair sometimes.

Oh God I loved my husband so much.

We were married nearly twenty years.

Lord God he used to like to talk

to people down at the bar.

He used to like to talk

to that woman down there.

He'd go down there and sit, I know.

Lord God he used to like to talk.

I stumble through each day.

I cry through through every night.

Sometimes I think I'm a broken woman.

Sometimes I think I'm broken.

I don't know how I'll go on.

But there's bills and bills

I've got to pay.

A home that needs cleaning

and dishes to wash.

Children who need lots of love.

Children who need advice.

And a house with a hole in the window

that needs to be sold.

How can I go on without my husband?

I don't know if I can carry the weight alone.

Lord God, I'm so alone.

I miss his voice.

He used to like to talk.

Oh God he used to like to talk.

He visits me in my dreams at night

He cuddles me tightly. He kisses me softly.

He used to tell me,

“Jessie, you're the bravest woman I've ever known.”

Now I hear him in the night softly say,

“Don't miss me, please don't miss me.

I'm here with you now. Don't miss me.

Jessie you're the bravest woman

I've ever known.”

I get so mad at him.

Lord God, he used to like to talk.

Liked to talk to the pretty young women.

Liked to talk to everyone.

Now he visits me in my dreams at night

He cuddles me tightly. He kisses me softly.

He says, “Jessie don't miss me.

You're the bravest woman I've ever known.

If you fall down, I'll help you up again.

I'll help you up.”

Lord God I miss my husband

He used to say,

“Jessie, you're the bravest woman

I've ever known.”

Last night I dreamed of a great river

with a boat to carry me across.

On the river bank my husband was standing

I walked up to him and he kissed me

He said, “Jessie life is kinder than you think

Every night in dreams you don't remember

You travel to another land.

There you and I are young again

And together we sit and talk and laugh

drinking iced tea

beside a great cypress tree.

When your days here are done

to that distant shore you'll travel

and if you still want me

I promise I'll meet you once again

beside that tree.

Jessie, oh Jessie

You are the bravest woman I've ever known.

And the love we feel for each other

is that cypress tree we meet under each night

with roots so strong it will never know death.“

Dewey Dirks

Find

Find

Why spend your time

Trying to figure out

Something so grand as God

When you're not even sure

What life it is that flows

In your own veins.

You'll likely spend many lifetimes

Just discovering yourself

If you want to find yourself

Look to Nature

Because in it are pieces of you

If you want to find Nature

Look inside because there are

Pieces of it in you

Remember, any inquiry

Is a good one

So long as your quest is sincere

Dewey Dirks

Dreams

Dreams

If you have a dream in life

If you strive for success in what you do

Sometimes the biggest obstacle

to achieving what you want to is you

Sometimes you fear that you're not good enough

to ever be successful

Sometimes you fear success

will tear you away from your loved ones

Sometimes you fear you're too messed up

to be ever be successful

Sometimes you fear if you find success

everyone will be out to get you

Remember success is not about

writing a perfect book

painting a perfect painting

singing a perfect song

or making a lot of money

What success is really about

is taking your life by the hand

and walking into a bright new day

Where what you believe in

is you

Dewey Dirks

HAppy Thanksgiving

Airs

Airs

I think everyone has an air about them

A feeling that they give away to others

Like ripples expanding out from a pebble

Dropped into a pond

My wife felt like the strings on a guitar

Tightly strung and full of energy

Able to make the most beautiful

Music for your soul

She had great power all scrunched up

In her tiny frame,

Like the massive energy of a brilliant, bright sun

All packed into tiny hydrogen atoms

You are like a summer afternoon for two

Out on a quiet beach---

Hills with yellow flowers

And green grass off to the north

Leading down to a white blanket of sand

As the ocean blue rolls in with the great rhythm of life

When you laugh and smile it's like a school of dolphins

Coming up near the shore to jump and play in the water

Blowing bubble-rings for each other.

You have great power too---

I don't know from where it comes

But it is like a soft breeze out there on the beach

Able to sway time itself with a secret, whispering song

Dewey Dirks

Give it a Whirl

Give it a Whirl

Now, I don't know

If I can change the world

But I'll tell you this---

I'm gonna give it a whirl

My friends, forget about

Whether you might or might not

Make a difference

Just do what's right,

Do the best you can,

Be yourself,

Be the best one of you that you can

And the rest will take care of itself

On your long journeys,

If you happen to help

Just one other,

That is enough

Am I gonna change the world?

I don't know,

But I'm giving it a whirl

Dewey Dirks

Turning Your Way

Turning Your Way

If you stop for a while

All the striving and fixing

And scamming

And trying so hard

To get life to turn your way

And just look and listen

And touch what is around you

With your heart and soul

You will find

Life turning your way

And if you look into the past

Touching what is there

With your heart and soul

You will find

Life has long been

Turning your way

Dewey Dirks

Thank Life

Thank Life

This life we each breathe...

So much to see

feel and experience

in everyday life

that can be called

nothing besides miraculous

very small, large and in between

A wise man once said

there are only two ways

to look at life---

as though nothing

is a miracle

or as though

everything is a miracle

I've tried both,

and have to say

I seem to notice more of life

when I look for miracles

They say

if you are living your life

as you should,

you'll be swimming

in a sea of coincidence

From where do they all come?

Some say God puts them there

Some say we ourselves

put them there

simply by noticing....

So, I stand on brown earth

and green grass,

look up at stars each night

or the bright sun

and white clouds

of a winters day

and thank life....

that is my way

Dewey Dirks

Natural

Natural

Not knowing

what the future

might bring,

the cultures of Man

move naturally together

towards an unknown tomorrow

in an unspoken dance.

Our sounds are the same

as the sound of rain

in stormy darkness

pattering a natural song

all the night long.

Our market economies

and the governments

that support them

one day will outlive

their usefulness

---perhaps sooner than you think,

and fall by the wayside

going the way of

the feudal societies

that once ruled men.

Soon enough we all will stride

to the tune of a new day.

Rest easy friend,

our halting dances,

follow the Earth music

as all others do

on our blue and white sky marble

and the paths that

we men tumble and tussle along

trace the grand song of life

just as flocks of swallows

turn and twist in unison

on their long path south

flying to melodies

that have never been

set to paper.

Dewey Dirks

Something New

Something New

My late wife and I lived together

For over twenty years

It was a charmed romance

In many ways

When you know someone that long,

You've heard pretty much

Everything they have to say

About a dozen times over

But whenever Laino and I talked

There was an endless summer in her voice

And what she had to say

Just never got old to my ears

My time with her helped me learn

That every single day

Really is something that is fresh

And although you see and hear

The same sort of things over and over again

If your love for them is soul deep

Each passing day forever remains

Something new

Dewey Dirks