PRECIOUS POETRY: February 2021

The Label of "NON"

I don’t need your labels

I have my own

But you seem to like to label me

Thus the reason for this poem

And what is worse than a label

Defining who you think I am

Is that ugly label of “NON”

Because I don’t belong to your clan

Because I don’t subscribe to your club

You give me the label of “NON”

It may be easier for you and your group

But for me, it’s very wrong

To give me this label for who I’m not

Keeps you from knowing who I might be

I am so much more than just that one

That doesn’t follow your belief

The label “Non” dismisses me

Is that what you wanted to do

Are you the standard for my identity

Are you the holder of what is true

Are you really that confident

That you hold all that's wrong or right

That you and your tribe are clean

That you divide the day and night

Maybe for a moment

You can imagine that we are one

One heart, one soul, one humanity

And the need for labelling is done

Close your eyes and ears for that moment

And reach out to me with your love

Embrace me with your courage

And that just might be enough

Maybe you'll find us not so strange

Maybe you'll get to know

The me beyond your labels

Now that's good seed to sow

It doesn't stop at your heart

It takes courage to right a wrong

To encourage others to love beyond

That label known as "NON"

Love is that courage, that embrace

Love is the only way

Love has the power to make us one

And we must start today

Ask your neighbour who they are

And stop the labels of who they're not

Let's be the ones to make the change

Because the ignorance has to stop

Let's be the chorus in this world

To sing a different song

To honour our sisters and brothers

And get rid of the label of "NON"

Poets Note: Written February 16, 2021

I am tired of hearing people defined by this label. I used to do it, but it was very ignorant of me. To think I was the standard of another person's identity, was grossly irreverent of me. This poem is not a slam on clubs, clans or tribes. Those have purpose for most people. But having a club, clan or tribe, doesn't require that we look with disdain, even ignorant disdain on someone else that does not belong to our club, clan or tribe. I've been told we all have the same blood that runs through our veins. Maybe it's time that we all embrace the same Love for each other.

This poem is going out to anyone who uses the label of "NON", and to anyone who has felt the sting of being categorized as a "NON".

(Definition of Ignorant: lacking knowledge or awareness)

Why I love you

If I dived deep into my memories

Of the day we first did meet

I might be able to tell you

Why I found you all so sweet

So many beautiful women

Have crossed my journey's path

Some only for a moment in time

But some made sure their love would last

I don't know what I've done in life

To deserve such amazing love

The more wondrous women I meet

I find I can never have enough

Each family member, each friend of mine

You've all sung a different song

Each melody you've played over time

Has been what I've needed all along

Each triumph and each tragedy

That I've had the grace to journey through

You have been there along side of me

And today, my gratitude's for you

Thank you so much, each one of you

For the woman you are to me

My love and joy would be locked away

Had you not been the key

I don't know what tomorrow holds

But each day I have till then

Will be another day of blessing

Because you have been a friend

Poet's Note: Written February 11, 2021. I was missing my girlfriends. So I sent out an invite on Zoom to 30-40 female family members and friends for a forty minute get together on Zoom. To compliment the poem, I created a collage with over sixty pictures that I have taken or had taken over the years with some of the beautiful women ( and girls) in my life. Who I am and who I hope to become as I journey along in life has been, is and will be because of the precious women who have loved me and have given me the space to love them.

Wow... 15 people showed up to my Zoom meeting. And we went around the world in an hour. We talked about so many adventures. What a blessing!

One Agnostic Wonders

In a world where certainty and knowledge are praised

I find myself alone

Wondering if I am loved at all

When really I don't know

Is my value and worth dependent on

What my brain and conscience KNOW

Must I agree with people to be loved by them

I hope the answer's a resounding "NO!"

I would hope that it's okay with some

That I can't wrap my head around

The meaning and origin of the universe

Which has become a battle ground

I would like to be honest if that's okay

I don't want a debate or a fight

I struggle at most, and hope at best

But I'm up against "Wrong or Right"

I don't need to be evangelized

I just want to know if they'll try

To understand me before they judge me

This is my heart felt cry

I didn't plan to be where I am today

I just found that I couldn't believe

In a lot of things that just don't make sense

This, I'm trying to get them to see

This is not an easy journey

I have already lost so much

There is pain along this pathway

When who I am is not good enough

So who among the many

Still holding tight to what they "know"

Will find a place in their heart for me

A person, a human, not just a soul

All I want in this life is to be loved and to love

That has to matter more

Love has to define my every move

It needs to be real to the core

Nothing in this world

No religion or restriction

Can replace something so pure as love

In all of it's conviction

Love can only be the essence

That can bring us back to each other

It is something so universal

For every sister and brother

It's my hope that one day soon

I won't have to hide in shame

That who I am will be okay

And I won't have to play their game

I will be honored and valued

For who I am and who I love

And everything else will fall behind

Because Love will be enough

Poet's note: Written February 12, 2021. It is two days before Valentines Day and I am perusing the theme of love and what it looks like to me. When do I feel loved? I guess I feel loved, when I am seen as a person on a journey. I don't feel loved when I feel like a fish. Most fish have one purpose… to be eaten. The rest get stuck in a bowl, tank or pond for some human's pleasure. I don't see that as love. I guess that is why I never had fish as pets. I couldn't see myself able to love them.

Something or Someone

Someone else's anger

Is ripping a hole in my chest

I stay close by and listen

And try not to ingest

The spirit that pours

From their wounded soul

Hoping one day

Something or Someone would make them whole

Something or Someone

Would find a way

To heal what ails them

And here I stay

Listening with a healing heart

Hoping I won't break

Not understanding or knowing

The next step I need to take

Frozen as I wait

For the storm to pass

Confident that it will

And the anger doesn't last

My embrace tells them I did not break

I am stronger than I feel

Because Something or Someone

Is finally becoming real

Poet's note: Written February 8, 2021: I am still vague on the name I have for the "Something or Someone" that is becoming real. But when I am in a space where breaking seems like a more human response, I am finding "Something or Someone" is becoming more of a reality, than just a hope. I still won't be pressured to box myself in to a corner when it comes to putting a more definitive label on the "Something or Someone"… but I am trying to be creative in my selections. With so many languages, come so many names, so I am not in a rush to narrow it down to one for me. Maybe there is a beauty in the multitude of monikers for the Divine. After all, there is an affection evident each time a new name comes forth, because it doesn't have to define the Creator (which seems absurd to me) , as much as it might more define the connection between the Creator and the Created.

One More Funeral

If you die this year

I won't know how to grieve

So many mixed up thoughts I have

And so much yet to fear

Already we are separated

Like a death unto its own

Locked away, you are still removed

From my love and from my home

The letters, cards and flowers

Aren't enough to ease my pain

Though the sun still shines today

Tomorrow it might rain

No one knows

When freedom will come

When the masses can gather

When we again can be one

But if you die this year

How can I process that

Yours will be one more funeral

That I'll be barred from being at

Poet's Note: written Feb 5, 2021

2020 came and went, and two funerals in my family occurred that I would gladly have driven six hours with my mother to be at. This hell is not over yet. More people will die and more loved ones will be refused entry to the one place they need to be to mourn, to comfort family, to say goodbye.

I have a lot of faces in my mind and loved ones in my heart that I don't want to lose during this time. I want to see them again, and when they die, I want to be with their family when they are remembered. I guess what really is at the soul of this… I will feel like I don't matter enough to those people. I am too far down the line to belong to the sacred few that will be given admittance to the memorial service. That is what I fear. That the day will come and I will be left alone at home away from my family feeling like I don't matter. And when I look at those relationships that I have had with those special people, I know that is so far from the truth.