Insults & Self Worth

To become un-insultable
Is to become fortified
With the confidence of
Impenetrable self worth.
10.31.11

Frogetfulness & Attention

We only forget
What does not occupy our attention.
10.30.11

Joy & Relish

The inability to enjoy
What someone you love enjoys
Invites distance and tempers the relationship;
For love to remain aflame
Lovers must learn to relish each other’s joys.
10.29.11

Teresness & Substance

Beware—
Too many words
Dilute the substance.
10.28.11

Wine & Feelings

There are two reasons
For good wine to taste bad—
Because one’s company is bad
Or because one feels bad.
10.27.11

Can & Should

‘Nothing can be done’
Should not be interpreted to mean
That nothing should be done.
10.26.11

Reading & Writing

Reading is promenading within another’s imagination;
Writing is taking a dive into one’s own soul.
10.25.11

Society & Pretense

Pretense is the web that snares society
And the more complex the society
The greater are its pretenses.
Being true to one’s self brings peace
And gaining peace is predicated upon
Having less to do with society’s pretenses.
Perhaps, that is why
It is harder to be true to one’s self
When one lives in a complex society.
10.24.11

Atavisms & Dogmas

We either think with reason or with instincts;
Instincts imprison us while reason sets us free.
Only the brave dare jettison their atavistic chains
And dare question ancestral beliefs and dogmas;
If you want the beast to froth and roar
Ask why belief should sensor thought.
10.23.11

Efficiency & Success

Efficiency subsumes knowledge, effort,
Intelligence, hunger, passion, faith,
And health, both mental and physical;
It is the meter of human productivity
And success is its well-begotten child.
10.22.11

Power & Shame

Power rules and justifies
And then it dies with all its lies
Then a new power does rise
To do the same and die the same;
Powers cannot ever be wise
No one wins the power game
Homo sapiens are a shame.
10.21.11

Enhancement & Transparency

We use everything at our disposal
To enhance our personal positions
Unaware of our transparency.
10.20.11

Avoidance & Best

To be the best one can be
Is to apply one’s efforts
To maximum tolerance.
To be the most comfortable
Undisturbed, and at peace
Consumes avoidance effort
And stifles our best.
10.19.11

Gratitude & Humility

Those who get angry
At having gotten old
Would have gotten angrier
At having died young
Because they lack both
Humility and gratitude.
10.18.11

Avoidance & Enlightenment

Just as some people
Drown their spirits in alcohol
To avoid serious thinking and self examination
So do many others
Narcotize their minds with reading
To avoid radical change and self-enlightenment.
10.17.11

Beauty & Love

There is no beauty without love;
One must love something about
Whatever one finds beautiful.
10.16.11

Worth & Self

Self worth
That does not arise
From within the self
Is worthless.
10.15.11

Excess & Nature

Were it not for the desire of excess
That insatiable black hole in human nature
Moderation and peace would have been possible.
10.14.11

Power & Decay

The military powers of nations
Seem to grow at the expense
Of their internal decay.
10.13.11

Ethics & Nations

To bypass ethical standards
All that individuals have to do
Is think like nations.
10.12.11

Information & Knowledge

The illusion that we can know the real persons
From what we hear and read about them
Fuels curiosity and inflames gossip
And also betrays truth.
10.11.11

Age & Speed

The older we get, the faster we age
And the more each day depletes
Our dwindling life reserves.
10.10.11

Heaven & Hell

The requirements of heaven are seven:
Peace, Joy, Love, Passion, Health, Excellence
And the dedication to worthy causes;
The requirements of hell are the negatives
Of the requirements of heaven.
10.09.11

Food & Noise

Restaurants that compete
In serving large portions of unhealthy foods
With even larger portions of disturbing noise
Must think that having more to eat and less to say
Are the corner stones of a healthy social intercourse.
10.08.11

Calling & Intrusion

When we are seized
With the urge to call someone
We forget that our call is an intrusion.
10.07.11

Age & Distance

We laughed at old age
Because it seemed too distant
Then cried when we got there
Because it was too near.
10.06.11

Pain & Joy

Memories of pain and suffering
Outlast those of pleasure and joy.
10.05.11

Initial & Success

Initial successes
Blind us to potential failures;
The gambler who initially wins
Then returns to lose everything,
The initial weight loss with a diet
Followed by subsequent weight gain,
The initial passion of a relationship
Followed by a dirty divorce,
The winning of the first battle
Followed by losing the war…
10.04.11

Delusions & Realities

Humanity
Is powered by delusions
And disempowered by realities.
10.03.11

Need & Treatment

People will treat you better
The more they need you
And worse, the more you need them.
10.02.11