Counting is our nature --
balls and strikes; clouds and
their potential...Stars, when
one is really bored (I generally
loose interest around 100) --
those left on a battlefield
are numbers we never forget --
and my prayers, a vault full,
between myself and God; kept safe
from human consumption.
I live on an island in the Pacific region
The largest body of water is the OCEAN
Like, can we be more Pacific?
I think Christopher Columbus got lost
Because the directions were not pacific
Oh, excuse me, the Pacific Ocean
Where you will find the small islands (Micronesia)
Where you will find the black islands (Melanesia),
Where you will find the many islands (Polynesia)
Generally, the islanders are like coconuts
So hard on the outside
But succulent on the inside
Yet they always end up wanting Samoa
Get this,
An assault by an Islander
is called a Hawaiian Punch
At times, these islands need a therapist when they are in a tropical depression
Some islands have sunk
Oh no do not laugh
That is not funny atoll
Sea yourself out
Therefore, I live on an island
A small island
I am a MICRO
I mean, how can I get more pacific than that?
"How beautiful you are, so vast and deep; how vital to us all: Magellan’s Mar Pacífico, the 'Peaceful Sea,' so magical to me." by poet
I was named for my peacefulness
though at times I batter shores with angry typhoons.
So large am I that I cover a third of the globe!
No other ocean compares to me in
volume or in number of islands and atolls
whose various beaches I touch upon.
Thirty-thousand islands claim me as their waters,
and my barrier reefs shield people from storms.
Encompassing vast regions north, south, east and west -
such as my basin's volcanic “Ring of Fire”
and the Challenge Deep of my Mariana Trench,
I am home to most of the world’s sea creatures,
but please keep me clean. Protect me!
Your plastics accumulate in the “Garbage Patch”
off San Francisco’s coast, extending to Japan.
Precious fish are dying from the mess humans make.
Generally warm, I welcome you to my shores.
Surf my waves, ride my currents, and explore my depths.
Just remember; without me and my sister seas,
your vital ecosystems cannot be sustained.
“A riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma”
Like a series of hollowed crystal balls
Cleverly constructed inside the other,
Making a bell within a bell
For the amusement of a cherished child;
Such is Life, generally and specifically.
But what about what remains beyond description,
What is fundamental to Life
Which consciousness may guess
At but never actually know?
Consciousness is what constructs
The exquisite ball bell toy,
What sings out when it chimes,
And what holds and sees and hears it ring;
Consciousness is the whole of our reality,
And yet is but a subset of the totality.
However we describe it,
We never actually approach it.
However much we reach and grasp
We never actually hold it.
However much we try
We never actually arrive anywhere
But where we always are.
(10/13/25)
Generally, I am on
the Clean Side; but,
garden soil is my
rich exception --
I wallow in it,
a piggy for the scent
and feel --
Sort of like, training
wheels on bicycles
are for sissies,
glove-less, I dip and
knead; saturate and
soak. Claw! Compact!
Sniff the compost,
deeply investing with
bacteria: praising, composing
a reverent hymn, How gloriously
Efficient Is Nature!~ our
Mother recycling, wasting
nothing, reusing all,
earth gripping back my hand,
a bargain seal of the grave --
Tigers, generally, come in only one type,
wearing a coat with a vertical stripe.
My dad's stripes go sideways, and as one expects,
my fur is covered quite nicely with checks.
“Living has yet to be generally recognized as one of the arts”
- Quote by Karl De Schweinitz
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ETHICAL DILEMMA, GUILT,
COGNITIVE DECLINE, FEAR,
INSECURE, PREJUDICE,
VULNERABLE, LONELY,
DEPENDENCE, REGRET,
WISE CONTEMPLATION
gentle gesture generally generates gems
©bfa060125
Complaint
I'm Just
Complaining For
No Reason Just
To Have A New And
Fresh Example
Of What
It's Like.
Pure and Unadulterated.
Could Be Generally Useful.
Or Just Important.
Scratch That.
NOT Important.
-Gray Squirrel
05-18-2025
Have Patience, Love
You May Think You Know.
But Only I Know What I Know.
About The Generally
and Specifically Unexplainable.
And I Can't Quite Figure Out
How To Say It.
How To Tell You:
Yet.
That Isn't Even Quite Right.
Said Wrong. The Wrong Way?
Again.
But
It
Is.
JUST Is.
-Gray Squirrel
05-18-2025
You won’t see these words
in a shop window
printed across a smiling face,
or scribbled upon a wall -
they will probably never be daubed
on toilet stall doors either.
Deep and meaningless words
are generally reserved
for deep and meaningless poetry.
Works of literary art
that paint pretty word-pictures.
They are often well crafted,
but in the end
the reader is left hollow
wondering
why depth is so often presented
in such a shallow way.
“Generally, or at least very often, people with a deep interest in animals are the best people around.”
- Quote by Roger Caras
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Purpose is to feel unconditional trust and love
Emotions so rare, unfound in fellow beings
To own them is to be healthy, happy, and humane
Many are doctrine heavy but Kingdom shallow
With a mellow attitude, they become arrogant
Displaying the components of theory but
Their lives lack the practicality of the Kingdom of God
Doctrine heavy, Kingdom Shallow is a common mistake
These are the men who are generally fake
They speak a lot but do not know the Kingdom
They hardly know their KING
They sing but cannot bring themselves to study the Kingdom of God
They are doctrine heavy but Kingdom shallow
These men have a flock
But have locked themselves out of the Kingdom
Their lives lack the practicality of the Kingdom of God
Mark Frank
Copyright 2026
(“Loyalty Merit Badge”, 2010, original oil)
A Simple Solution
The world is full of woe
Always has, and always will
So it’s incumbent on us
To find a way through.
A simple solution is to find a dog
Dogs generally give far more than they take
And as such are a source of solace
As well as a good example to follow.
Specifically find a pug
They were made for laps and pleasant walks
For endless hours of gentle napping
And years of bottomless giving.
The world is full of woe
It always has, and always will
But that doesn’t mean we can’t find a moat
To keep the woe at bay.
And that moat requires a team
Designed to not only survive, but thrive
Family and friends,
And at least a loyal canine or two.
(4/4/25)
Have you fallen into the oldest of traps, before?
(A lone voice whispers)
Be Illuminated.
Don't be like the many and fall into a readers' mindset, and believe everything you read is true.
Be sophisticated and ingenious.
And when reading poetry, be conveniently adventurous.
Don't always think it personally relates to the author:
For that trap is the oldest of the old.
Going back to poetry's first beginnings.
Poets do sometimes relate their stories to be told, but generally, perhaps:
They're really creating secret escapes.
Imagery, emotions and landscapes, for those seeking shelter.
From the cold, unforgiving, light of just living.
(C)
Copyright John Duffy
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