How I Make the World a Better Place

Fiery and volatile
Balanced with calm and quiet
She is unfailingly sweet when feeling safe
Melting like smooth chocolate into your arms
Seeing into you, the Divine within you
Knowing the perfection of who you are
Embracing you without end in a love
That warms you
Surrounds you
Holds you up
She lends you strength, holding out a hand
Clasping it passionately
Entwining her soul with yours
Willing to stand beside you
With you
Together
She dances to the rhythms of the air
Humming merrily to the song
Feeling her heart sing
She laughs
She cries
She moves
She breathes
She stands in her space of who she now is
Having fear and yet still standing
Having fear and yet still moving
Having fear and yet still believing
Watching for those who wait to be led
Those who may be crying unseen in the darkness
Who may hurt or long to be held
She provides safety and sacred space
Where the lost can be found
Where the hungry can be fed
Where the homeless can be sheltered
Where the unaccepted can find love
With her heart she listens
And she opens her eyes to see
And while she does not know all,
She learns and she stretches and she grows
A dreamer with a gift of Seeing
One who honors the dreams and gifts of others
Her daughter is a Gift brought into the world with love
Holding Peace
Holding Joy
Holding Fullness
She has curiosity that leads her
Into places she has never been
A hunger to know
And experience
And feel
And do
Passion flowing in her veins
Deep and strong and unending
Part of her being as much as
Her hair
Her eyes
Her hands
With a touch, she can heal
With a touch, she can bring peace
With a touch, she can open a heart
And bring remembrance
Fluttering about as a fairy
Light and carefree
Untamed and wild and born to run so
Confident that her match is real
And that, one day, will run beside her
Remembering that fairy tales can come true
And that happily ever after happens
Longing to be seen and known
She keeps her eyes up
And holding her eyes upward
Connects with you
And you
And then, with you
Welcoming in the world with love
Having faith in Greatness
Having faith in the Universe
Having faith in God
And walking upright
She, Me, She
Me

-akm 01/09/08

I spy...

This morning, on the way to work, I turned my stereo up so loud that I could not hear myself think. I did it on purpose. I have been thinking too much lately.

Having my ears and head numb opened up my eyes. As I drove, I spied...

-A man smoking and drinking what I assume to be coffee while he drove. Not unusual I know. However, it was the manner in which he did these things that struck me as noteworthy. Whenever he would swill back his morning drink, he would close his eyes in ecstasy. It was as if each drop was precious, to be cherished. His left arm hung out his opened window, holding the specialty cigarette wrapped in distinguished russet-colored paper. When he would take a drag, he would inhale deeply, eyes closed and then he would hold the smoke in his mouth, savoring the flavor, I imagine. When he would release the smoke into the atmosphere, he would lean his head out the window and slowly exhale, watching the little clouds float away.

-A horse eating soggy grass.

-A dead raccoon on the side of the road.

-Snow covered mountaintops to the west. Cloud covered mountaintops to the east.

-Two geese flying southeast.

-A billboard that always disturbs me by the headsup.com campaign. It shows the outline of a child on the ground at a crosswalk and reads, "Children should be seen and not hurt."

-A metal headless horseman on a metal horse at a local haunted house attraction sitting still in the morning dampness and looking worse for the wear after last night's storm.

-A youthful woman with hair so white and long, from behind I thought she would be an old crone. The color was that color I admire on elegant women who have aged so gracefully. When I pulled in alignment with her, I realized she was a young woman who was applying mascara while gazing in her rearview window. The contrast was startlingly attractive.

-Silver-gold linings on the eastern clouds that hid the rising sun.

-A plastic owl perched upon the sound barrier wall along the highway which I traveled.

-A homeless person pushing all of his belongings in a shopping cart.

-A police officer rocking out in his marked vehicle, drumming on his steering wheel.

-A sign upon a marquee of a church which read, "Eat your pride – it has no calories."

Small World

As I sigh, I discover it can be heard on the other side of the globe.

As I breathe, I realize there are others that breathe with me.

As I move, I find that my movement causes others to move as well.

As I awaken, I become aware of the intimate smallness of my world
and the vast wealth of opportunities

that are mine for the embracing.

One step... one small step at a time
and I find myself in a place I have never been before.

Homeless

What has happened to the citizens of our country?

Last night, I was going about my merry way. I don’t even recall where I was when I saw a sight that stopped my heart.

A beggar.

Now, I know they are all over. And, usually, they are holding signs that state something eloquent like, “Will work for food.” I see these Unfortunates all over my fair city. Sometimes I help them – going against the voices that ring through the atmosphere calling out, “They should be working for food, not standing on a street corner, begging for money.”

Who am I to judge their place in this world, this life?

My only concern is will I choose to help this person today? It is not mine to hold what the person chooses to do with that money. What is mine is if I choose to help the least of these my brethren.

At any rate, this was just not any beggar. This was a disabled vet, according to his sign. I could vouch for the disabled part – he was without the lower part of his left leg from the knee down. And I guess I could assume the camouflage clothing he wore could be the clothing of a veteran. I will just have to take his word on that one.

He maneuvered awkwardly to the corner, swinging his crutches clumsily while his cardboard sign bounced against his chest as it hung from a frayed rope around his neck. His mobility was further hindered by the fact that he had a dog leashed to his belt. I have never been able to understand why homeless people have pets. Having never been homeless, I cannot fathom the sense of insecurity that would create. So, perhaps those pets are a reassurance, a comfort, a warm body. Another mouth to feed?

I ask again, what has happened to our citizens? What has happened that we have veterans – the very people who have fought for our freedoms and the freedoms of those in other lands – standing on the street corners begging for help? What has happened inside them that they feel their only means of coping, of surviving, is to stand there helpless, hopeless, impotent and beg for help? Why do they have to beg? Why are they homeless? Why, in this modern age of technology, why are any of us homeless or poor or starving or begging?

Some would say it is a choice. Some would call them free-loaders or bums or the dregs of society. Some would call them a drain on our economy. Some would say “those people” are just lazy and it’s not their responsibility to take care of the homeless.

And some would call them Brother.