Androgynous Old Age

I think it is wonderful to become androgynous as we age;
This seems to calm the beasts in whom hormones rage.
Women no longer see other women as sexual threats,
And men no longer see sex as the way to win bets.

We begin to enjoy people for who they are inside,
Not as toys we take on wild adventuresome rides.
We are happy to accept each other with our failings
Self-deprecation is the basis of our conversational regalings.

Pity the old people still attached to the illusion of control;
They have missed the mark on what history has foretold:
There comes a time when each of us must pass the baton
To the next runner, before our ability to coach is gone.

How sad it is that we have become a race that adores
All that youth offers so much that we expect more.
We do not want to teach the next generation to lead;
We simply expect them to continue to feed our greed.

Believing in Boundaries

I believe that the biggest tragedy in life is to grow up to be a drain on society. Many people have pets and babies because they want to feel "loved" by a creature that is totally dependent on the good will of the parent/owner. This is not my definition of love; this is my definition of need, which is an altogether different thing. I don't think those who have lived lives of self-discipline should be made to support those who produce children for nothing but their own pleasure.

I love to watch parents tending their children with patience and self-discipline. I grow tired of the many who act as if their children are the responsibility of "the village." While watching feral animals is fun in small doses, I understand why we accept a doctrine that humans have dominion over the "lesser" animals. Someone has to be able to set boundaries for humanity to thrive.

I am really quite tired of the sanctimonious self-deification of those who rescue feral animals and birth lots of babies. Why do they think it's okay to kill a steer for food, but animals who do nothing but use resources without giving  back anything but adoration of their owners, are to be protected at all costs. If we all took responsibility for making sure that we only breed what and who have extra resources to offer, including humans, we would not have nearly so many discussions about who or what animals deserve to live.

While we all need to be needed, producing subjects for oneself is not the best way to go about filling this need. There are already so many creatures, human and not, that may become benefits to society if they are added to the lives of those who will teach them to be useful. There are also many who need to be helped as they enter the last days and moments of their lives. We honor only ourselves by producing children and breeding animals for nothing but to worship us.

I am so tired of having to act as if each "party favor" baby that a couple produces is going to grow up to benefit our earth. Humans are animals, supposedly with "souls," or at least the capacity for judgement and self-control. There are, sadly, also humans who are unable to make sound judgments, but even most of them can be trained to be a benefit to society. Some of the best employees I ever had were mentally challenged, but physically capable. Even the brightest parents can produce children with limited intellects because of gestation and birth traumas, illnesses and accidents.

Isn't it time that we accept the fact that it isn't god who makes babies; it's human beings, for their own purposes. God may give us the capacity, but we exert our power to make it happen, whether we should or not.

Overwhelming Emotion

I believe that the energy that we create and share in our lives
Will live on as long as those whom we have touched survive.
And all they touch will be impacted by those we have touched
This is why what each of us does matters so very much.

So often the brilliance of life causes me to look away;
There is only so much emotion that I can bear to display.
I am so very passionate about everything that I feel,
That many run away because my emotions are too real.

I did not often share my awe of sunsets with my children;
Their expressions of awe and wonder should be left to them.
The greatest challenge that I've faced as an accidental mother
Is that my emotions tend to, my children's feelings, smother.

My children have developed their own awe and gratitude,
Not dependent on feeling my every emotion and every mood.
I believe that this is the most precious gift that I've given them:
To know where they and I begin and where our overlap ends.

They are each highly passionate, in their own ways;
This is something for which, over the years, I've prayed.
I believe that our  passion, not pain, leads us to forgiving,
And that life without passion is something not worth living;

We cannot live on fear or pain as our overwhelming feelings;
We must embrace the joys that can bring such great healing.
As long as we celebrate the gifts that we're given every day,
We won't worry about what the afterlife will bring our way.

Cats and a Duck Couple

Cats are squaring off to claim territory,
Though there are ordinances against them.
They had no interest in claiming the pool
Until a duck couple came in for a swim.

Of course neither are the ducks welcome
Anywhere on the condo property.
Maybe the cats think it their duty
To keep the pool duck couple free.

Watching creatures who are not trained
Reminds me that we're all animals;
Without exercising our judgement and will
We're subject only to instinct's pulls.

It is sad, but true, that there are some of us
Who are unable to make informed choices;
Shouldn't the rest of be evolved enough
Not to follow those who make the most noises?

From the beginning of recorded history,
We are told of the destruction of greed;
And yet, just like the cats and ducks in the wild
We claim much that we neither want nor need.

Why I Walk Away

If I live every day as if it is my last
And honor the energy of others;
I may act like a person of the god
Believed in by my father and mother.

They never told me what their god looked like;
I knew by their lives what they believed.
They believed they should destroy the sin
In every child that they conceived.

They didn't do this with bonding;
They did it with rules and punishment.
This was the mission, they both believed,
For which parents and priests were sent.

They worshiped a god of wrath,
A terrible task master at best,
Who demanded his own son's blood
To put our ancestors' sins to rest.

Where my beliefs differ from theirs,
Is in how we see Divine Energy.
Rather than focusing on death and sin,
I look for The Life in all that I see.

This way is not always easy,
As this world is full of such pain;
But focusing on the light in others
Helps to make me feel whole again.

I am not good at holding hands
Of those who seek healing punishment.
I don't believe that punishing others
Is why any of us on earth were sent.

And so when I walk away
From another in deep distress,
It is only because I am weakening
In my ability to give my best.

It is not because hate the person
Or that I judge them to be wrong;
It is simply that in sight of their pain,
I know I'm not able to be strong.

Saga of the Cents, Part II

Well, washing coins makes them worse.
Went to the bank with bags of soon-to-be bucks;
Started feeding the coin counter with great speed;
Soon broke the machine, and ran clear out of luck.

The bank management said don't continue.
The coins were clean, but water caused oxidation.
A man behind me explained with great authority
The rough surfaces caused mechanical constipation.

He suggested that I tumble the coins with sand
I knew I didn't want to buy this equipment
He said casinos clean their coins this way;
Maybe a casino will make this commitment.

I don't think washing is considered
The same thing as laundering money,
But the whole thing of cleaning coins
Just naturally seems to be quite funny.

The Wishing Well

We used to come home and cook; now we count coins. Well, we don't actually count them; we sort and wash them as the first part of the process of putting coins from the SMH wishing well (or fountain, to be exact) to good use.

SMH Foundation has long been receiving the coins retrieved from the lovely fountain at the Medical Office Building attached to SMH hospital. The SMH Foundation exists to help fund state-of-the-art medical care in the local community.While going through supplies that may be needed for the May 18 Rooftop Rendezvous "Beach Party Above the Boulevard" we came upon stashes of coins in several places. When asked about these bags of bucks, Jen Berger said, "We can't turn them in until they're washed." "Looks like a job for my favorite volunteer -- my husband!" I thought.

I should have had heavy duty shocks installed before loading all these coins in my car, but I did make it home without mishap. We stood at the sink for several hours, him sorting and me vinegar washing, rinsing, and drying assorted coinage from assorted countries. As I stood at the sink, I thought about all the people who must have stood at the fountain wishing that their loved one's cancer was cured or that the results of a PET scan or MRI would come back with good news.

Fifty pounds of pennies later, we're about a third of the way through the project, but we don't know if our bounty is clean enough for the coin counters. It's off to the bank with what we washed, so far. I certainly hope that this money can be put back into circulation; it may help somebody's wishes come true.