April 30, 2020: Selected Limericks

Selected Limericks

1.  Life isn’t going so well.

The reason is I cannot tell.

And I think it’s a shame

That my life is a game

Of finding my own place in hell.

2.  I once knew a fellow with wit

Whose every remark was a hit.

When asked how he ever

Attained to be clever,

He answered, “I haven’t learned shit.”

4.  An awkward I know is so shy

That I finally went and asked “Why?”

“I’m abandoned and torn

And I can’t even mourn

‘Cause I’ve learned that it’s useless to try.”

6.  Miss gregarious’ life’s swift and loud.

She’s admired ‘cause she’s tough and she’s proud.

But she’s playing a role.

Don’t ask for her soul.

She’ll just disappear in the crowd.

8.  Jack might’ve been strong, but he sure wasn’t bright.

He was heard to be shouting, “I’m right; I am right!”

Said a cop, “Excuse me,

But I disagree,” and

Jack answered, “Do you want to fight?”

10.  Reginald had a singular goal

To be in absolute control.

When he found the way,

He went on display,

And found it was only a role.

11. My words and actions in total congruity,

I will not tolerate ambiguity.

Unless I am sure,

I’ll accept no cure . . .

I’m so sick of missed opportunity!

14.  I called God up today on the phone,

Wishing to be understood and condoned,

But I wasted my dime.

She said, “I don’t have time:

Could you leave a short message at the sound of the tone?

15.  Reynold, the scholar, never got shook,

But would always methodically listen and look.

A tornado came by

And blew him sky high,

And he asked, “What’s become of my book?”

16.  Johnny meant to build a bed,

But wound up to make an extensive tool shed.

I said, “You’re clearly not lazy,

But surely, you’re crazy!”

He answered, “You hit the nail on the head!”

April 29, 2020: Mental Illness Reality Show

Mental Illness Reality Show

So now we welcome our special guest,

So full of wisdom and talents

We bring him before us, ‘cause his life is a mess.

Perhaps you can tell he’s a little depressed.

Can you see he’s a bit out of balance?

So let’s give our speaker a round of applause

While he’s telling us what’s gone wrong,

Reveals his failings, his fatal flaws,

How he misused and broke the laws

That it takes to get along.

Now watch our speaker as he mounts the stage.

Look at him shake his head!

Notice the smile that masks his rage!

He says, “I feel like I live in a cage,

And I wish that I was dead!”

He says, “Nothing I thought I’d learned in life

Ever came to practical use,

And now I must wallow through meaningless strife.

I can’t talk to anyone, and even my wife

Says I haven’t got any excuse!”

He takes his fist and he beats his brow,

And the audience begins to scream.

“I want to explain it but I don’t know how.

For a while I thought I was well endowed,

But I guess it was all in a dream.”

He starts to bang his fists on the floor

To wake himself up from his sleep.

He says, “I’m sorry to be such a bore!”

Mechanical chuckle.  The audience roars,

“We’re sorry you’re such a creep!”

So ladies and gentlemen, please remain

In your seats while the curtain comes down

On this freak of nature, so clearly insane,

Yet another showcase of human pain

That we’re gonna get out of your town!

We all have heartaches.  We all have fears

That our printers will go off line,

For we all are losing the things we hold dear,

But now, let us grin from ear to ear

And feel like we’re doing just fine!

April 28, 2020: The Normal Self in Relation to Its Attributes

The Normal Self In Relation To Its Attributes

I am SANE:

Somebody, for I am an individual.
Anybody, in my equality with everyone else.
Nobody, for I am beyond all sense perception.
Everybody, in my importance to the existence of the whole.

Sometimes I think I might be crazy,
While at other times, I know for sure.
Craziness is freedom expressing itself,
And I am free.

I am not my imagination, but the being  who imagines.
I am not my thought, but the being who thinks.
I am not my feelings, but the being who feels.
I am not my body, but the being who acts in the world.
I am not the world, but the world exists
Out of the same source by which I experience it.

Because I am the shaper of my feeling, thought, and wonder,
I call my experience the mirror of myself, and
I am determined!

Like everyone,
I do sometimes fall into the trap of insanity.
I believe that to be in-SANE
Is to be surrounded by well-being.

There is no one so lost
As to remain confused
When s/he is found,
And THERE is hope
For each and every one of us!

April 27, 2020: Substance Abuse

Substance Abuse

I keep hoping that things will be okay,

But then again, they’re not.

Always some little thing getting in the way:

You loved me, but then you forgot.

You say you’ll see me, but you can’t find the time.

I’m just adding to all your duress.

You’ve got other appointments, and you’re running behind,

But the reason - you don’t want to confess.

You say you’ll call me, but you don’t follow through,

And you’re quick to take offense.

When I try to figure out what’s up with you,

You tell me I’m way too intense.

You call me your baby, and then you desert me.

You can’t see how I’d feel confused.

But it isn’t really that you wanted to hurt me,

When it’s substance that you abuse.

You are constantly preoccupied

By things that you cannot explain:

Friends to protect and pathways to hide,

And people you both love and disdain.

You are distant from all that you cannot mention

And trapped in your own contradictions,

And it’s hard to give even basic attention

When you need to feed your addictions!

Surely I’m not worth your confidence:

I might quench a long-burning fuse,

And set off a bomb in my innocence

By exposing where someone’s been abused.

But the larger reason you won’t let down your guard

Is to protect your hiding feeling.

You’re a sensitive soul, and you try to be hard.

It’s yourself you’re afraid of revealing.

And toking on your pipe is no big deal,

Coming home to that delectable high,

Where you feel again what you’ve wanted to feel.

Life is more than just getting by.

But if you’re getting by, you know you’re doing alright.

You’ve got to do what you can to get loose,

And remember the moments of second sight

When you’re rolling through substance abuse!

It’s on the way up or on the way down --

You can’t always maintain your composure.

You think you could use yet another round

But get burned by over-exposure.

Your emotions morph into crazy distortions,

Derailing your concentration.

Thoughts start spinning out of place and proportion

In the jitters of intoxication.

You re-focus into the intricacies;

Maintaining your lust for a drug

In exposures and flirtings with intimacies

You can always pass off with a shrug.

You belong to a circle hell-bent on obtaining

What will only go up in smoke,

Divorced from what is and what isn’t sustaining.

It’s a serious game and a joke!

You make alliances - social; financial,

With desperate demands and perks.

The wisdom you gain can be substantial

About what fails and what works.

You immerse yourself in the dangers of dealing;

Make friends with a fear settling deep in your bones,

And you numb the pain of those cold, ragged feelings

In the wonders of just being stoned!

So I can almost count on you to let me down,

Regardless of your intent.

You’ve got business all over this town,

But you can hardly pay your rent.

You like to be clean, but you live in a sty.

It’s not really the life you would choose.

You say you’ll get better, but that’s just a lie,

When you’re living a life you abuse!

Chances you’ve missed start to leave you bitter.

Drink that wine of rationalization!

You’ve got some ambitions, but you’re mostly a quitter,

And you call it procrastination!

Someone offers to help you, but you slap his hand

‘Cause it covers your shame to refuse!

There’s no one left who can understand

But the Spirit which you abuse!

You say you think you’re almost alright.

You just don’t know on whom to depend,

Who accepts your weakness and honors your light.

Well, you can’t be both an addict and a friend.

Your distinctions dissolve.  You get rotten inside.

The mind will always find an excuse,

So go to your closet where you keep your disguise

And pray to find freedom from substance abuse!

Pray to find freedom -- from substance abuse!

April 26, 2020: Teenagers

Teenagers

The common consensus:  young people are trouble!

It’s like they live in their own little bubble.

It can be intense to be a teen:
New ideas; new feelings, but what do they mean?
As we attain to our own, we are caught in between

Being a child and yet almost grown.
Feeling protected, but being alone.
Needing our parents, but seeking our peers,
And the rights we demand can depend upon years.
What it means to be someone isn’t always so clear.

So a lot of adults won’t get involved
With kids when they have so much unresolved.

They’re scared to offer a new opportunity,
While the kids need a sense of continuity
From the nurture of home to the wider community.

We all need mentors as we seek our direction.
We all need the chance for those kinds of connections
That affirm the value of life as a whole,
Conceiving “employment” as a meaningful role,
Combining service and personal goal.

The fact is – young people are not all alike.
Some can be friends.  Some we won’t like.

Some into sports; some academic.
One likes his music, and wants to be a mechanic.
One must be serious, and another a comic.

Not just teens, but we all need to find
That which will open and focus the mind.
Some, though intelligent, don’t fit into school.
Some need more freedom.  Some need the rules.
Some work with people.  Some work with tools.

So it’s a challenge to find the right solution
To a teenager’s growth and contribution.

Where grownups may sometimes be stymied by doubt,
The young are more willing to try things out.
You can’t blame them for trying, but help show them a route
To put their passions into something constructive.
To wallow in guilt is self-destructive.
In one way or another, we’re all befuddled.
The world keeps changing, and if we stay in our bubble,
Whether young or aged, we’re all in trouble!

Each day is a chance to make a fresh start,

In recognition of our paths of the heart!