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Romans 13:8 “…Pay your debts as they come due. However, one debt you can never finish paying is the debt of love that you owe each other.
the mailbox, stuffed~
mortgage payments, car loans
with balances and deadlines
marked in red.
water, gas, and electric bills~
the hungry phantoms of
creature comforts
coldly due.
we chase the spectral zero balance,
dream of that stamped envelope
with the sweet release of
paid in full.
but the other statement
never arrives~
no perforated tear line,
no due date circled in red.
it’s a debt, unlisted, un-itemized,
it haunts no credit score,
demands no late fees~
a debt we’ll always carry.
this bill arrives not monthly
but daily~in every heartbeat,
every hunch that kindness calls
beyond oneself.
this debt, this sweet, persistent owing
is paid in tears dried on a loving sleeve,
with burdens carried, with forgiveness offered,
and in whispered reassurances.
this debt’s non-ending, compounds with kindness~
the interest paid daily—not in coin
but in soulful connection
and ego transcendence.
habit patterns and the way we think
creature comforts and our choice of drink
karmic rebound caused by seeds we’ve sown
the way eyes lower when we atone
discomfort when betrayed by our muse
subterfuge as a tool to amuse
regrets of past, fear of the morrow
our delusion the cause of sorrow
objects ephemeral we desire
lust, rage and angst our funeral pyre
ego trap, unable to forgive
we feel incomplete, yet wish to live
trapped by senses and bemused by mind
we wander earth like a cripple blind
The snake dances past them in the air
Fear frozen in eyes of charming pair
Hyenas cackle, vultures on high
streaks of lightning stab the sky
A night not fit for man or beast
blood gushing from ancient fountains
Apparitions looming every place they turn
O, for creature comforts do they yearn
When the sparrows chirp from the branches,
of the enchanted blossomed cherry tree,
My heart wishes if I were one of the lucky birds,
I would not have missed the beauty and grace of your love.
When the tears stop coming down the eyes,
they freeze into dry tears inside the tormented lonely heart,
My heart wishes if it could feel and touch you,
And listen to the soft and romantic music of your heart.
My life boat drifts aimlessly in the ocean of life,
With beacon of hope gone out of sight,
My heart desires if you were with me,
We would be paddling in our own ways with some hope in sight.
There is an emptiness and a void in the heart,
where all the creature comforts don't mean a lot,
My heart dreams the impossible unity dream,
How much I miss you, only me and my heart knows.
Cat
Once I had a cat who loved to wear shirts,
More than he loved anything else
He was an odd cat
Barely a cat at all
He loved shirts,
And baths,
He loved all food,
Except peanut butter.
He could jump straight in the air
As high as my head,
So we named him Roo,
Short for Kangaroo
And after the character in Winnie The Pooh
But he was more of a heffalump or woozle
A wild creature
Who ran around the house
Nipping at heels
And terrorizing the other residents
He was more of a legend than a cat
Disappearing for days on end
Before returning fat and happy
And smelling of smoke
I loved my wild heffalump of a cat
The one who loved baths,
And shirts,
Who lived for creature comforts,
But hated peanut butter.
Who could jump straight in the air,
And make a mad dash for someone's ankle.
I love my wild, weird, little woozle
Who vanished into the night
Always an enigma
A legend
A mystery
A heffalump.
Dirty, tatterdemalion in appearance
He's clothed in worn-out raiment, his hair unkempt;
Perambulating through concrete jungles with...
No place to call home.
He carries his entire life in his backpack.
No money to spend; hunger pangs relentless.
On the move from shelter to shelter, he has...
No place to call home
He's but a man the rest of the world forgot;
Loneliness written in his sickly sad eyes.
It's so harsh life devoid of creature comforts;
No place to call home.
Date written: 12/20/2022
Since we are constantly giving into our lives, we best
be mindful what we give the life we live, because what
we feed our lives will be the life we live; the one that yields
like stalks of corn from the seed we planted into our life.
In being mindful, we give lots of loving care to our lives.
We give far less care to the outside creature comforts of
'Me and Mine', 'Fame and Fortune', 'Pleasure and Prestige'.
We free our lives from the 'over-kill of possessions',
from the massive pursuits of, 'Look at me; I too am a VIP'.
We cherish and nourish the inner life that it may yield
the sweet fruits of selflessness, consideration, and love. We
hunger for the Love of God that enables our love to give back.
888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888
O God and lover of our souls, who loves us more than we love ourselves,
May we thirst, not for things and stuff, but for love like yours that gives.
081922PS
like stray animal
flees creature comforts of home ~
roaming in the cold
Date written: 10/02/2021
We were made for more than just to live and let LIVE.
We were designed and engineered by a Grand Master.
As He gave Himself to us, so He wishes that we likewise GIVE.
Only eternity knows what lasting fruit that would yield and Foster.
I marvel at such who dares to withhold themselves and their GIFT.
Some never comprehend that their Master endowed them with a Trust.
They are entrusted with treasures for the purpose of enriching, to LIFT;
Not merely for creature comforts or to bequest to others for a family Fuss.
And I also marvel at those who are willing, at The Master's call, to give it ALL.
Some by behest of their Master become renowned and acknowledged Heroes.
It's enough to make many short ones feel like they are standing 10 feet TALL.
On the other hand, there are the no-name ones with minor scenes and Rolls.
These are special also, required to live in the shadows, but no less chosen.
080721PSCtest, A Brain Strand 4 To 14 Line Poetry Contest, Brain Strand
But Life:
Is about security, feelings, children, reputation, finances,
the kind of familiar that keeps us more than being in love
Keeping my feet under the table, the family table
Leaving causes too much unraveling
Leaving comes with a side order of wounding, crying and confusion
Massive alarm bells are ringing in my head
The other side is too expensive, too much loss
So I will return:
Because the aftershocks could last for years or eternity
Because eight children need to see me stay and be for them
Because a world of international persons is watching and hoping
Because new routines are hard
Because creature comforts
Because
Modern minds,
torn by royalist repressions,
hoped democracy would inhale
and expand
freedom.
Freedom from depressing suppression,
lack of creative tension
and safe expression.
Freedom to invest
in post-feudal farms
and families
for future fresh respiration.
Lost were more indigenous memories
of ancient creature comforts,
democratic tribal humors
rumors
tumors benign
and sometimes malignant,
safe and scary,
significant and sacred.
Indigenous wild minds
worn smooth by felt democratic experience,
shared recreative tensions,
cooperative co-acclimation,
cherished freedom for eco-political integrity
more honorably cooperative
than freedom of competing ego-authority
In 2020 hindsight,
ecological
healthy Earth-relationships
for better democratic trust
predict honorable,
resonant,
resiliently felt and touched
theological synergy;
Regenerative patterns
of ergodic energy.
He earned over a million in 2016
Then he did it again in 2017...
Did he redistribute his earnings to the poor
Did he sacrifice any creature comforts to cure
All the world's ills, which we know --
'Cos Comrade Bernie's told us so --
Requires replacing evil capitalist societies
With Comrade Bernie's socialist pieties
Hang up your hat. Recline on the sofa and drape your legs
Over the ottoman. I don't mind one iota. You're the guest of the hour
Make yourself comfy. We'll laugh over drinks! Stay awhile, if not more
Enjoy the creature comforts. And please, feel free to drop by anytime
Date written and posted: 01/14/2018
endowing superlative creature comforts
reduce wretched survivors scant band of bare naked ladies
beastie boys, foo fighters espying counting crows
ready to buzzfeed toe kin *****sapiens
bereft, expunged, faux invincibility kickstarting
learning basic survival skills
forced to rescind twenty first century trappings
shifting paradigm sans primacy
pitting dishabille helpless imps against killers
who do not shrink from ethically principled
but give full reign to selfish callous deleterious foibles,
gruesome harmful indiscretions
sprouting with mushroom rhizome rapidity
ousting the omnipresently
(well nigh since time immemorial
virtues cultivated, futilely integrated, lending oomph
residentially, scientifically tendering ubiquitous DNA
foisting gabled, heralded, instilled,
justified kneaded love thy neighbor motto
lyft ting in one fell swoop delicately
embroidered, finely graven, heavenly ideals
no more patent leather shoes reflecting up
nor doodling Yankee staking claim to fame via feathered cap made of macaroni
thus such jingoistic, holistic, fabric ripped retroactively
ramping atavistic simian base,
thus leveling the playing field.
As every blossom wilts and every youth
Yields to old age so manifests every stage of life,
All wisdom and every virtue
Has its time, and cannot last forever.
At every call of life, the heart,
Wrapped in bravery and without regret,
Must be ready to take its leave and start again,
To embrace each new adventure.
For a magic lives in each beginning
That shelters and helps us to thrive.
Let us move calmly from place to place,
Clinging to nothing as if it were a home,
The “Age” does not chain or confine our dreams,
It guides our steps toward increased opportunity.
But homelike surroundings, creature comforts,
Tempt us to let down our guard.
Only those prepared to let go, to love revolution,
Have a chance to escape crippling habits.
Perhaps even the hour of our death
Will open fresh new vistas to challenge us,
Might life’s call to life be never ending then?
Let it be so! Heart! Take your leave and health!
Herman Hesse – From his novel, The Glass Bead Game
Translation by Brian Johnston
April 3, 2017
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