When you returned 
so did noise 
and noise now 
is often irritating 
whereas before it
was exciting I
have discovered that 
silence is the 
lagoon where peace 
and serenity swim 
it is absence 
from the sound 
of gears grinding 
I have once 
again switched off 
the machine and 
found my way
back through the 
pass of aloneness 
shedding distractions clothes 
swimming naked in 
a pond called 
me myself I 

Focus on you
let others go 
about their business 
of distracting themselves 
with others who 
are also distracting 
and on and 
on they go 
calling that life
that it isn’t 
life is you 
and never them
or they or
whomever whatever else 
catches their eye 

To hope is
not to expect
which also is
not to be 
used to either 
to hope is
to dream only 
it is possibly 
positive whereas expect
and be used
to is negative 
confusing the two 
frequently results in
one’s own disappointment 
often in others 
stop expecting others 
being used to 
hope for better 

It’s funny when people 
look at you they
look at you like 
a book jacket something 
catches their eye about 
you making them wonder 
are you summer beach
book material maybe comfy
cozy chair fireplace material 
or maybe even nightstand 
beddy bye time material 
but material you surely 
are an adventure a
journey a reason sometimes 
though infrequently a solution 
always always something sometimes 

When I don’t 
then I must 
like elephants which 
shake the trees
making fruit fall 
I too must
shake the trees 
of convention making 
other fruit fall 
for a harvest 
never relies on
the fruit but 
only on labor