Once upon a time, what seems a few moments ago

my mama said don’t chew gum and testify in court at the same time.

She said, even a little swig of honesty can cure a great big hangover of hurt.

She said, don’t turn your bedroom into a war room, and don’t go looking for any meaningful gurus in the dollar store.

Mama said, everybody can feel the blues but singing them is a whole other story.

Said if you don’t want people walking all over you, don’t wear a welcome mat on your back.

Said never throw a punch when your words can provide a better upper cut.

My mama said, you might not have wings but you can sure teach your heart how to fly.

Try this one thing

Do it today.

Try it in a wide-open field, while walking a crowded street, or stuck in a cramped airline toilet at 30,000 feet.

Try this one thing, don’t wait till tomorrow.

Do it when you’re on the go, in the know, or on a first-name basis with amnesia.

Try this one thing, do it for a stranger, a stray animal, or that certain someone who always makes the bed in your heart’s apartment.

Do it for James Baldwin and Amelia Earhart; I hear their bones glow in the dark.

Do it for the phoenix rising and night falling, yellow submarines and green tambourines.

Try this one thing, do it when you’ve got time on your hands, or at the end of the line.

Do it when you’re tired and lonely or juiced on groove at an all-night rave.

Do it because you can. Because if you don’t, maybe no one else will. Or perhaps they’ll try.

Hallelujah’s Harmonica

There’ll be days when your alarm clock gets lockjaw, when all your single socks file missing partner reports and you’re the prime suspect.

Days when your forehead feels like it’s in foreclosure, when emotions lose their password and have trouble logging into a simple hello.

There’ll also be days tasting like the freshly brewed coffee of hallelujah, when harmony plays you a new tune it just learned on harmonica.

Kickass days fueled by martial arts and Marshall stacks.

When the heart feels like it’s wallpapered with technicolor cool.

Days when, if you preheat your thoughts to 350°, good intentions will surely rise.

The Illiterate Dictionary

When the dictionary suddenly becomes illiterate and can no longer understand itself, it sells its contents for endless Wordle possibilities.

The inerudite dictionary uses the proceeds to fly to Paris and study with mimes.

One starry Eiffel Tower night, it falls in love with a tone poem.

They spend their days wandering through thrift shops, seeking the perfect clothes for their hearts to wear.

Each evening, they manage a little theater that only screens silent movies.

They encourage the audience to dance in the aisles, to feel the blood hibernating beneath their skin,

as it dreams new ways to sing the body electric.

A Little Bit of Leftist Thinking in a Right Turn Only Town

Last night I dreamed that Frank Loyd Wright posted right turn only signs all over town, so everyone was going in circles.

It was one of those situations where a little bit of leftist thinking would’ve gotten the traffic flowing more smoothly.

Upon waking, I made sure grace had all the wax cleared from its ears before asking for any small mercies.

After all, it only takes a slight loss of sibilance to make ‘exist’ sound like ‘exit.’

Now I’m gonna inquire about borrowing a shovel to dig down deep into the earth,

discover that wishbone singing brighter than any tuning fork.

Mother of Destruction

Mother of Destruction,

take your children—

disaster, war, disease—

and teach their tongues to speak more loving ways.

Tame your evil gods

with their restless dreams of dread.

Know that no matter how often

you leave your bloodmark of misery

on our foreheads,

we will always rise to conquer.

Be it with faith, fortitude, or knowledge.

Where Dreams Lead You

The dreamer runs away to join the circus.

The circus runs away to join the cult.

The cult runs away to join the convent.

The convent runs away to join the party.

The party runs away to join the Ukrainian army.

The Ukrainian army doesn’t run away.

In the movie theater of shame

the coming attractions are filled with joy and good conscience.

The main feature is always heaped with penance and pity.

You can purchase popcorn buttered with amnesia, candies flavored with apathy.

In today’s feature film, two neighbors argue over who has the most profound amount of guilt and grief.

It isn’t clear why they suffer these feelings, but they sure have a lot of them.

A character across the street from these men is a woman who’s secretly remorseful overwatering her lawn too much.

Certain moviegoers drought-shame the shameful woman, toss popcorn at the screen.

There’s always this one couple that comes to the theater. They sit near the exit, hold hands and laugh.

They never stay long enough to eat the popcorn or candies.

Once the coming attractions are done, once those good intentions have flickered before their eyes, they smile, kiss, and leave.

Humanity’s Mathematics

Mother Nature gets pretty rowdy when drunk on rarefied air.

Her rap sheet spans back to the beginning of time. Don’t bother trying to read it, though; the best parts have been redacted.

If you can find an original version on eBay, I’m sure you’ll pay top dollar.

Meanwhile, on the other side of eternity, death is thumbing through the latest clothing catalog; it’s getting tired of wearing black.

As for the rest of us, the price of living keeps going up each day while the value of human life declines.

Such is the mathematics of humanity, always an odd number in the bunch where things don’t divide up evenly.

All the more reason for a Noah’s ark of the heart—two of everything divine.

Deep Consciousness Correspondence

Buy a handful of metaphysical stamps.

Send a message to your intuition, thank it for keeping the porch light on for you at night.

Write a dispatch to the moon, thank it for its swooning, crooning glow.

Send a letter to a dog and god. Ask them if they see each other when they look in the mirror.

Become a penpal with solitude. Exchange recipes with peace. A postcard to the ocean.

Seven well wishes to the seven wonders.

Send a love note to the North Star and the open road. Thank them for getting you safely home.