The Brewing Storm

The electrical storm brews in the air
The flash of piercing light slashes the dark
The clash of roaring thunder screams through the silence
The pouring water rinses clean the air

Then the atmosphere quiets the earth
The sun begins its ascent for another day
The birds all chirp in unison
What will this new dawn bring

The earthworms struggle to the surface
As I scratch to find my way up
Too soon the brilliance scorches these creatures
Burnt upon the hardness of the cement

I rise with hopes of a new future
Bright with promise of a new beginning
One that brings its guarantee of peace
A stillness within my heart

The power of the past that haunts me
Its presence grows far from my spirit
The memories fade in the distance
The pain erased from my soul
©2007

Stolen Moments

There is this still quiet silence
That falls like dew upon the grass
My manna from heaven
My mind is free of the racing thoughts
That once choked the being of my sanity

There is balance in my life
This state I do not dare to upset
While I miss my manic highs providing my creativity
I do not miss those crashing blows that always follow

I feared the worse when the mania subsided
I panicked at the potential loss of my imagination
Yet I find in this still quiet silence the words
Words to express my conscious state of being

I think I like what balance feels like
I can inhale without constriction
I can be at that place where I am one with the moment
I can be mindful of all that is around
And choose not to select the darker path

For the first time in ages I feel at home in my mind

I can look in the mirror and see the hope and possibilities
I’m not quite sure yet how to grab the brass ring
But the fact that it is there for the taking
Finally lets me exhale with peace.©2007

The Peace of Employment

My workday has become my respite in this world
It demands ten hours of forced labor
To occupy my mind on something quite specific
With projects to head and deadlines to meet

I excel at spreadsheets galore (emails & voicemails are mere June bugs on the windshield)
The intricacies of parsing through a database thrill me
The meetings, while many unnecessary, fill a spot
Forcing me to think on a specific subject (but oh how I loathe PowerPoint)

Phone conferences eat away at my time
While many I attend, I am a mere fly on the wall
They always require extra vigilance
Just on the chance that my project becomes fodder for discussion

Video conferences, on the other hand, require an extra flair
More attention to detail regarding my physical appearance
And I always have to look eager to participate
In fact, more often than not, it is me that prompts this communication

We are a global company that requires my attention by 0500
To accommodate Europe’s time zone to be fair to all involved
I leave it to others to occupy the later hours
To baby-sit the Southern Asian and Pacific Rim portion of the day

Yes, I revel at the magnitude of my responsibilities
They take me to places that put my mind on useful tasks
No time to battle the racing thoughts of insanity
As crazy as my workday may be, it provides my only brief reprieve of inner peace
©2007

Between the Ears

Tornados twisting thoughts in my head
Hurricanes hurling heaving judgments across my brain
Switching synapses snipping ideas all over the place

Why is there no peace to be found when I am all alone
Why does my brain have to interfere with this option of silence
Why can’t my head just be a resting place of peace

I want this madness to stop—a cease-fire if you will
No more racing bullets shooting through my skull
Only more idiotic notions to plug up the holes

I close my eyes for the briefest of time
Where darkness should be only jarring colors appear
A veritable kaleidoscope of patterns eating at my lids

I keep them closed now to watch the blueprints on my brain
Oh, if it only held the smallest of prototypes of peace
Then maybe I could experience that coveted freedom of rest

No, the cacophony created in this space between my ears
Can only be heard from deep within my mind
A mind that no longer has control over the simplest of tasks

Rage flies in every direction
Unable to contain the explosive emotions let loose by this noise
And then I collapse unable to move, yet stillness does not pierce the heart
©2007

The Price of Peace

The flowers melt in the field
Their colors fading into the background
Carried by the wind

The grass turns burnt umber,
Just like in the 64 Crayola crayon box,
Eaten by worms, grubs and crickets

The trees shrivel into gnarled knots of wood
Their branches splitting and falling to the ground
Swallowed whole by the evil trench around the trunk

The sounds of laughter are quickly clipped like fingernails
Replaced instead by discordant pitches of wails
Crushing the eardrums and painful to hear

The hopscotch squares are empty—its marker left alone
The marbles are scattered everywhere
With its cat’s-eyed shooter off in the distance

The jump ropes lie dormant by themselves on the ground
Just empty sneakers tangled in the lines
And their laces flung in every direction

The mind is hollow
No thoughts to fill its empty void
The holocaust of war—its price has been paid
©2007