Scars

We all have them, be they physical, psychological, emotional, or spiritual.

From all the stupid things we did as a kid, both unintentional and

Self-inflicted from trying to repeat the actions depicted on TV,

To the wounds from our first serious break up,

Our scars make up the core of our character

And are boons that shouldn’t be hid away.

Every day we get new scars from the demons we must slay,

But I’m here to say we needn’t shy away or hide.

Instead, we should wear our scars with pride.

Why?

Because they are a reminder that we’re still alive,

That we survived,

That life has thrown a bus at us,

 But they roar loud and clear,

“We’re still standing.”

 We have nothing to fear because

We’ve faced death and we’re still here.

This poem is meant as a lyrical miracle,

A salve to solve your tears.

We need not heed our nightmares

Because our scars are our trusty steed

And will see us through the darkest night.

All we need do is remember our scars are near

 And we will find our inner light.      

Screens

Social media, the internet, and technology are great,

But now we live our lives in a world of screens;

Big ones, small one, even ones we wear.

But in this interconnected world have we forgotten how to care about anything but our screens?

It’s gotten quite obscene the way we no longer interact with each other.

The beauty of the world around us goes unseen,

While we like, retweet, and react to the latest meme

or demean the latest target of the cyber gestapo for daring to go against the established flow.

We’ve become so addicted to our screens we’ve become afflicted with maladies such as text thumb and neck.

Heck, it’s even affecting the way we sex,

From sexting to Netflix and chill.

Our society is ill,

And the only remedy is to put down our devices

And treat them like the vices they’ve become

Before we all go blind, deaf, and dumb,

Numb to everything but our screens.

Instead of looking something up, use your memory.

And if you want to communicate with people then don’t hesitate.

Call them or even better,

Write them a letter.

Stop swiping right, go out and enjoy a night on the town,

Before all the clubs shut down.

As for me,

I’ve had my fill of screens

And will do more to enjoy the analog world.

If you know what I mean,

Then put down your screens.

Ya feel me, dog?

Boxes

Check here for White,

Here, here, here, and here for

Black, Asian, Latino, and Native American.

Check here, here, here, here, and here for:

Male, female, trans, nonbinary, and agender.

Mark this box if you’re into your same gender,

This one if you’re into both,

This one for nether, this one if you’re into all genders,

And this one if you’re straight.

Check this box if you’re a liberal,

Here if you’re a progressive,

And here if you’re a democrat.

Here if you’re a republican,

Check here if you’re a conservative,

Here if you swing libertarian,

And here if you’re an independent.

We’ve become locked in these boxes,

Assigning roles to ourselves and others based on nothing more than the identities we’re born with or later choose.

I don’t mean to disrespect anyone or to confuse.

Having a place and community you feel safe in is great. But there’s no need to verbally bludgeon and abuse those we disagree with.

We’re so quick to demonize the other.

Have we forgotten what our mothers taught us:

Do onto others as you would have them do onto you.

We’re so much more than the boxes we’ve checked,

So, stow the hate and identity politics insanity

Before we’ve wrecked the one thing we’re all trying to protect:

Humanity.    

An Ode to Physics

Physics is the poetry of motion.

Apply a force (F) to a mass (M), and you’ll produce an acceleration (A) every day, per Newton’s Second Law.

Once in motion, that mass will have kinetic energy, per K.E.= 1/2 M V^2, where V is velocity.

See, physics is the conductor of the cosmos, per Einstein’s Field Equations, which I won’t list here for the sake of those of a less science persuasion.

It’s the pied piper of particles, master of the ocean’s motion via Newton’s Law of Universal Gravity (F= G [M1*M2/ r^2], where G is the gravitation constant and r is the radial distance between the masses.

Physics is the destroyer of worlds, the cracker of the atom per Einstein’s Theory of Special Relativity (his famous equation E=MC^2).

Physics lays bare the heart of the universe.

I don’t mean to geek, but we are all children of star dust.

And once we shuffle off this mortal coil, we will return from whence we came to continue the great comic dance.

For the First Law of Thermodynamics states: energy can neither be created nor destroyed, merely transferred or converted from one form to another.

From one star brother to the another, the beauty and elegance of reducing the universe to a series of equations has no parallel in heaven or hell.

It’s the music of creation and makes my heart swell, the ringing of the universal bell and knowing exactly for whom it tolls.

Word to your mother, there’s no limit to the wonders physics can produce with a few formulas and numbers.

Love Thyself

Two-fifty, two hundred, two-fifty again.

I’ve struggled with my weight most of my adult life.

Either I’m stuffing my face with everything in the place, or I’m working out all day every day, trying to get thin.

But I know now I must love the skin that I’m in. Whatever that is.

I love my belly, regardless if it’s stretch-marked with rolls like Buddha, or a compact baby six pack.

 I love my thighs, whether they be wondrous or of the thunderous variety.

I love my calves, be they dandelion-thin or bulky like watermelons; my arms, be they string beans or Christmas hams; and my chest in all its asymmetric mess.

I love my glutes, whether they be nonexistent or all that and then some.

I love my hair, be it curly, kinky, wavy, straight, blonde, red, or black.

I love my too-big-for-my-frame feet, my bowed legs, and my trick knee.

I now see it matters not how much I lift or how many miles I run, so long as I persist to be cool with myself, free to be me in all my beautiful glory.

So, if you feel seen and know what I mean, then repeat after me:

I love myself.

Snow Day

Children laugh and play,

Throwing snowballs and sledding.

—When did we stop this?

Older

Hair thinning, graying,

Pot-bellied, knees arthritic,

Man, I’m getting old.

Fire of Will

Through the fire and flames,

Through the bruises and pain,

Through the suffering and the shame,

I will step up my game and rise again and again.

You will bear witness to my persistence.

No matter the odds,

I will face any challenge

and win the fight,

As long as the light within shines bright.