love the moment

The Bill of Rights The Serenity Prayer Swearing on a Bible Words we repeat Words we say we believe Annie sings of Tomorrow Crooners sing of love Words purportedly of the heart Occasionally We should stop And ask If those words still Have meaning Or have only become Syllables, Sounds Repeated in times of trouble Possibly whistled in the dark But, when the sun rises Are soon forgotten Their meaning lost In the rush of days dg 11/30 Sent from my iPad http://jdavidgamble.blogspot.com/

Shaman, Houngan, Witch Doctor They believe they control the skies They trust their craft to banish the evil day A dance to bring the rains A chant to raise the sun A sacrifice to insure the harvest How primitive, I say How silly to believe such power How foolish to assume that weight But Even today I am weary I carry weight not my own I so easily forget my folly My mask not as fearsome My dance much more subtle And so Much more easily ignored dg 11/28 Sent from my iPad http://jdavidgamble.blogspot.com/

What is man, that you keep him in mind? The son of man, that you take him into account? For you have made him only a little lower than the gods, crowning him with glory and honor. Psalms 8:4,5 What is a man? Who is a woman? This is the question We are asking We asked it after Auschwitz We asked it after Apollo 13 We asked it after Leaves of Grass And after Beethoven's Ninth What in the name of Heaven Have we done What have we become Even four thousand years ago The simple shepherd knew it We are gods, of a sort In our hands we hold Both Heaven and hell Every day We choose Today Honor our beginnings Or shame the day And throw away What we could become dg 11/26 Sent from my iPad http://jdavidgamble.blogspot.com/

Today seems a bit misplaced Birds sing as if it were April The warm breeze is also confused It blows in memories of beginnings Not the measured times of approaching snow The sun is irreverently warm It wantonly disregards November Everything conspires Subversively suggesting And in no way remorseful they say Look! Dance! Sing! Forget the approaching winter Live today As if it were Forever Spring dg 11/22 For JFK Who is forever young and hopeful In our memory Sent from my iPad http://jdavidgamble.blogspot.com/

As one self-employed, on some days your boss is idiot. All the ups and downs of a poet's emotions are magnified by the vagaries of monetary policy, i.e. - the need for fiscal stimulus of a more personal sort. It's funny how I write a blog post, and then promptly fail to heed my own words. I wrote this personal paraphrase of Tao 64, and then completely failed on yesterday to heed any of it's lessons. But, today is a new day. Even a rainy Tuesday is an improvement over yesterday... Tao 64 That which is at rest easily holds what has not yet appeared Easily holds things fragile It is easy to break what is hidden Easy to scatter the small Manage things before they emerge Set them in order before trouble A tree as big as one's embrace springs from the smallest shoot A nine level terrace rises from a heap of earth A thousand mile journey begins with your feet underneath He who acts defeats his purpose She who insists lets it slip The holy one does not do, thus does not destroy...

"Your mission, Mr. Phelps" I remember those words Although, I'm no Phelps It still somehow resonates Spanish Missions Mission-style furniture Is this an obsession? I'm wishing for one of those Special Secret Agent Gadgets That toy commercial I believed as a boy It can see around corners! It can see though walls! Oh, how I wanted it! I want it still If I could only see around this problem If I could only see through this day Isn't there a way to know when I can't see? Can I get a money-back guarantee? Probably not I guess I'll just have to settle on Believing that memory verse from second grade Sunday school Walk by faith, not by sight dg 11/15 Sent from my iPad http://jdavidgamble.blogspot.com/

Descartes said, "I think therefore, I am" I wonder if Monet agreed What thought inspired over two hundred times What words compelled canvas, and paint, and brush Was it the words "water" and "lilies" I see the homeless man Early and cold Selling smiles and one dollar papers What thought is it that moves me And grips my heart so tight Although not one to argue Even more so with those dead, and French, and famous I think, therefore I feel I feel, therefore I think I think and feel, and therefore I act I act, I care, I shift, I learn I hurt, I love, I laugh, I cry I remember, I forget, I'm right, I'm wrong All this because I stop and listen Because of this I feel Strongly And because of this I am dg 11/14 Sent from my iPad http://jdavidgamble.blogspot.com/

For a limited time only For best results, use by this date An urgency, unwarranted, in my opinion However humble The rush of life like water after the storm Rumbling down the street, sometimes ignoring the sidewalk I had coffee yesterday with a friend He said his tumor had shrunk 30% After only ten weeks of chemo He was happy I was, too For him and me Over shared coffee Later, a little less so Maybe even melancholy At the thought of it all And a little guilty For any day I have complained dg 11/13 Sent from my iPad http://jdavidgamble.blogspot.com/

Bad fortune, yes - it rests on good fortune Good fortune, yes - it hides within bad fortune Oh the things that Heaven sends - Who can know their final aim? Who can tell of their endless ways? Tao 58 Every day questions come Rapid fire Who? When? Why? I struggle to answer quickly Even when there is no need I suppose I want to keep it up Pretending that I know But on my better days, I remember Swimming upstream is so tiresome As long as I reach the bank Is one patch of sand really any better? It's just I so easily forget The River's flow Knows things I can only imagine If I can believe Even the slowest waters Will, in due time Get me back home dg 11/12 Sent from my iPad http://jdavidgamble.blogspot.com/

To rule the state, have a known plan To win a battle, have an unknown plan To gain the universe, have no plan at all Let the universe itself reveal to you it's splendor ... Act with a pure heart and the people are transformed Love your own life and the people are uplifted Give without conditions and the people prosper Want nothing and the people find everything Tao 57 Come back To the first things Speak with love Act with care The simple things we remember Walk through the leaves Love their smell and sound Notice the autumn sun Low in the sky Long shadows deepen fall colors These are wonders I remember A world seen through wide blue eyes Things I recall, smiling They're still here If I will only See dg 11/11 Sent from my iPad http://jdavidgamble.blogspot.com/

Fully embrace your life And you will share in the glory of creation Have faith Follow your own shining Be aware of your own awareness On the darkest nights you will not stumble On the brightest days you will not blink This is called "Following the Eternal Light" Tao 52 Lately, there has been much angry shouting The collective voice is gloomy The shared soul defeated But every day has it's hero Mothers, tired, are still loving Fathers, weary, are too We are our gift to the world There is no messiah coming to fix us The only answers - our answers The only problems - ours, too We are the masters of our domain There are no tyrants but that we appoint What are you waiting for Wake up Get up Live Now dg 11/10 Sent from my iPad

That first solitary bird Her early song announces New, New! Day, Day! Sing! The old man walking, stooped Bending to retrieve the sidewalk mess The widow who still plants shrubs that Although, now, autumn Will bloom next spring Small affections Offerings on a neighborhood altar Acts of faith That tomorrow will come And better be Than today is dg 11/9 Sent from my iPad

The Sage has no fixed heart of his own Those who look at him see their own hearts Those who are good he treats with goodness Those who are bad he also treats with goodness Because the nature of his being is good The Sage lives in harmony with all below Heaven He sees everything as his own self He loves everyone as his own child Tao 49 What is the one thing My task for the day Assigned by unseen hands Spoken by the Quiet Voice Conceived in silence Is it the homeless man's smile Or the retired schoolteacher's greeting The barista delivered my latte with a smile The man with his teenaged daughter held the door We all have a part to play Together We bring light into darkness All the time unaware Of Heaven's unending conspiracy For our Good dg 11/7 Sent from my iPad

Who knows what fate may bring? One day your loss may be your fortune One day your fortune may be your loss The age-old lesson that others teach, I also teach "As your plant, so you reap." "As you live, so you die" Know this to be the foundation of my teachings Tao 42 I like to drive, don't you? I hate the back seat I think it's the feeling The illusion of control And I like lists - completing things As if I am measured by some cosmic ruler How far? How many? How'd the boy do today? I'm not sure who is keeping the tally I'd like to see it Then I think I'd tear it up! But it wouldn't last I would just start a new list... dg 11/5 Sent from my iPad

Like a blind man I sometimes feel my way through life And I am unsettled at my inability To see around corners I constantly search for the familiar A reference point to focus the day Hallway, bedroom, kitchen counter These I know The problem is walls I often mistake the surface imperfections For hidden messages What I thought to be useful information Was merely cracks in the plaster The resulting challenge Is to keep feeling my way forward Even when it seems safer to sit in the dark Unmoving Risking nothing dg 11/5 Sent from my iPad

War Monument, Lookout Mountain, Tennessee The Chinese character, te, (pronounced "duh"), which is found in the title of the Tao Te Ching , has been variously translated as "virtue", "power", "character", "moral force", "truth", and "integrity."  Each of these words reflect some aspect of Te, and the combination of them all suggests a fuller meaning of this mysterious principle.  When the Absolute, formless principle of the universe (Tao) operates in one place, through one particular form, it becomes Te. It is the fullest expression of life, which naturally reveals itself as moral excellence, generosity, unconditional love, selfless action, and spontaneity.  Te is embodied in the Sage and his actions. Te is similar to the Indian concept of dharma , action in harmony with the natural laws of the universe; it shares some qualities with the Judaic ideal of sedeq , righteousness; and in regard to the Christian out...

The most yielding thing in the world Will overcome the most rigid The most empty thing in the world Will overcome the most full From this comes a lesson - Stillness benefits more than action Silence benefits more than words Tao 43 Do, be, do, be, do Back & forth Between quiet & action Like a metronome I am locked in motion And yet There is a rhythm to life And it is this I seek On my better days - I remember The beat I need most Is to the tune no ear can find My favorite song Only my heart can hear dg 11/2 Sent from my iPad

If I could only snapshot a feeling If I could record a day The joy of a moment The gasp that follows a seeing No matter how hard I try Even if the words are flowing - and the feeling strong Even Monet could not catch the morning light Renoir could not paste the sky within even The bluest painted eyes Beauty, joy, peace There is no prison strong enough to hold them Beyond their appointed time But in my heart They leave their mark Like tracks in the sand My feet and yours I want them never to fade dg 11/1 Sent from my iPad