Exuding: Grumping Along

Valleys and peaks,
My back feels better
But my head aches
And my hands shake.

Looking for remedies,
Then enjoying the relief,
Sunny days
But not getting enough sleep;

Motorcycle roars outside
But the air is fresh,
Irritated by the noise
But attempting to ignore it, I do my best.

Hearing men shouting
And the slamming of car doors,
Returning my attention once again
I carry on with my chores.

These interruptions
Would not be so bad
If I was really interested
In my tasks

But my mind wanders,
As if searching for a break
From these monotonous duties
That make little sense.

Having grumped about it,
Now that’s out of the way,
I can get back to it
And into something else to say,

Looking forward to
A good night’s rest,
Can’t wait to get home
And put my feet up at last!

Exuberantly: Change

Isn’t life strange?
All of a sudden
My nose runs
And then it rains!

Pigeons come
And pigeons go,
Seagulls fly,
Swooping high, then low,

Good news
And bad news,
Travels far
Across the airwaves;

The sky
Clears again,
Just in time
For the sun to set;

I can’t get it
Together yet,
How all the bits
And pieces fit;

And yet, they do,
No matter what,
The words and the spaces,
The honours and the disgraces,

Fame and ignominy,
War and peace,
Sleep and waking,
Turmoil and ease,

Onward and upward
And down again,
Sinking through the floor
And bouncing skyward once more.

Exuberance: As Far as We Can Go

‘When finally I get
What I need,
It’s always a case of,
Too little, too late!’
I complained.

But then,
As I considered further,
I concluded,
‘Tis always thus!’

No matter
How far
We travel,
We always have further to go,

Too far
Is never
Far enough
For us;

Even the Buddha,
When he came to
The end
Of his long life,

Hesitated
On the threshold
Of final release,
Reflecting that
There was
So much more
That he could do,
If only, he but dallied
A while longer

But, “no,” he decided, at last,
He had to go,
To move on,
As do all of us.