Thinking of ways to tenderize:
marinate
beat
salt
stew
vinegar
This is all good for meat
never for a heart
Do not:
marinate on thoughts too long
beat yourself up for failing
pour salt into wounds
stew in your anger
let vinegar sour your disposition
That’s a recipe for tough
not tender
unless you’re just meat
Jane or John
look, really look
you are on the other side
was it messy?
easy?
you already went through
waded, weighted, waited
emotions passed
do you remember?
it was everything
still is everything
shares space with everything
and there’s still room
to do amazing
to crash and burn
to ramble past it
to honor with celebration
or blink and it’s gone
you are still here
putting each day behind you
while you push into the next
you are on the other side
look, really look
it is you
When bitter is no pill
just a way of thinking
Lemonade comes to mind
all the sweetness poured in
reducing nutritional value
risking decay
Youngsters with lemonade stands
dispensing hope
Should we take the medicine?
it is easy to forget
that each day is new
dictionary always available
to define, refine
sometimes it’s a thesaurus
leading us slowly
to something different
today it is discovery
that old pieces can be recycled
joy has a memory
a shift can drop a piece in place
comforting in familiarity
yet casting a new shadow
sometimes you are most active
when you are still
I kept looking to those purple roses today
wanting perfection
all the words
that would make it plain
without bogging anyone else down
You were here
I am me because you were you
and we were in an intersection of time
both solid and without discernable boundaries
a single note of a sterling song
that remains in tune as each chord is struck
memories building the melody
until the refrain doesn’t need the lyrics
because the moments are the perfection
that create a universal ballad
when one stops to listen to a heart
that grieves a heart that stopped
let me be your stranger
it’s easier to defy expectations that don’t exist
be my other
new , exciting, unknown
steering our moment
disorienting direction
while I discover missing pieces
words before and after
written in the dictionary
I have watched this video three times today and each time has led me to a smile. It is shorter than a sitcom and has far more to say. Olé!
