Month: July 2016

Life Topics

What Is Enough?

Jo Toale

DSCN2995Does the breeze that brings you
comfort from the heat rouse you?
Is the cool air enough?

Do your calloused hands that work to
bring success fulfill you?
Is the requirement enough?

Does the dog barking in the night
spark your imagination?
Is his voice enough?

Does the gentle sound of the moving stream inspire your intentions?
Is it true enough?

Is the love you surround yourself with
full of happiness and joy?
Is it real enough?

Do you feel the deep devotion of
spirit in your life?
Are you present enough?

What is enough?

Life Topics

Waves

Jo Toale

image

The waves bring a song of

wind and salt

married to the sun on

your skin.

 

Drink  in the sound of gulls

and umbrellas whipping,

keeping beat with the water.

 

Close your eyes and listen to

the music of babies crying and

chairs folding.  Hungry children whine

and complain.

 

Sandy feet struggle to walk by you

leaving grains of heaven on your

Skin.

 

Swimmers bob up and down

calling out to each other.

Sunscreen creates a beaded

barrior between fantasy

and reality.

 

 

Worship the hot sand in your toes,

Surrounded by ageless broken white shells.

The coast’s muted colors take away the

noise that fills your life.

 

Time does not exist here, until you gather

your belongings, introducing your

feet to the concrete world again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Life Topics

Acceptance

Jo Toale

Acceptance

Build your house with solid beam
and nails that respect the wood.
Welcome the walls that hold
up the roof.

Acceptance brings comfort
to all that surrounds you.
Don’t look with disdain at
dirty windows or aging
furniture.

Listen to the rain meet the
roof, acknowledging the drops
as faith pouring down.

Accept the price, accept the
rusty hinges that open your
doors to those in need.

Accept the house, and all
that fills it.  Heartbreak is
yours if you turn away
from the glow of the fire.

Life Topics

Friendship

Jo Toale

DSCN3860

There is a fine line to friendship.
It is wanting to be there – or
are you just there?

Do you listen and feel the pain,
or do you just listen and
offer little?

Give of yourself, your whole self
and don’t make the exchange
a convenience of sorts.
Care to the point where their
happiness is your happiness.

Be inside the person, and don’t
feign empathy or half-hearted advice.

Friendship is an eternal commitment
that doesn’t track the passing of time
or the absence of self.

Truly feel the pulse of the person,
and only then can you call them
your friend.

Life Topics

Time and Treason

Jo Toale

DSCN4015

Look in the mirror to
see the terms of your journey.
Time and treason have tried to
lead you to other conclusions.
Negative thought is the
predatory of joyful memory.

Try to recognize yourself in the
form that you’ve become.
Sagging and wrinkles are the
result of hope, fear, laughter,
heartbreak and joy.
Embrace yourself, and never
let go.

Don’t let gravity anchor the
spirit of who you once were.
Dance to a new song that was
written for you today.

A life well lived is the gift that
you wear openly.  A face does
not lie to please the vain.
The scale can’t stop my fancy.
My reflection is a map showing
each stop along the way.

I am beautiful.