Santa’s at the North Pole,
The sun runs west.
Devil’s down his south hole
With many honored guests.
But we’ve yet to find where
That bouncy bunny beast or
Its candied eggy lair are,
Because, of course, it’s always Easter.

The most important part of the word “Believe”
Is “Be”.
But matterful as well is “Leave,”
Says me.

Believing gives no guarantee
Of getting us past those diamond can’ts.
But I believe, and we agree,
It does give us a chance.

What’s better than being
Someone who goes leaving
Things not worth believing.

Be what works.
Leave what don’t.
Believe in you
When others won’t.
But go beyond
This simple turn –
Make believes real
Even if they weren’t.

She ran away, she ran away,
She did not walk, she ran away,
From what, she would not say,
She ran away, she ran away.

While she was not afraid,
She wanted nothing of today,
She ran away, she ran away.

Some called, “Coward!” others, “Brave!”
All were wrong, she ran away,
So much they named her “Castaway,”
And many muttered, “Oh, she’ll pay,”
As they so sadly sat in their dismay
At this disquieting display,
She did not care, she ran away.

Like a sheep going astray,
She ran away, she ran away,
All turned to flocks of shepherds
Who had to have their say,
“That’s all wrong!  Come this way!”
Castaway did not obey,
She ran away, she ran away.

How ’bout this cliche –
They saw themselves as noble knights
With dangered damsel who need be saved,
And offered safety on silver tray,
She ran away, she ran away.

All had to have a say,
Say, say, say, say, say,
She ran away, she ran away.

Truth is, she ran right to
What she wanted – and there she stayed.

Beasts have gone beyond the rules,
Where love and wild are the same.
They’ve broken out of stories
And have no fear of being tamed.
They offer the unknown,
Shred up every guarantee.
Whether or not they are,
Above all, beasts must be.

Most say be good.
Some say go bad.
I think be woods
And sky and glad
To turn to stone
Or squeaky creek
Or even bone
Or something beaked.
Be shining star.
Be pouring rain.
Be what you are
And you again!
Forget the fads
If you so dare
To pass good bad
I’ll see you there.

Bleve chopped down a tree
For she had to see
What it was below the bark,
That quietest of secret sparks,
That grew this steady, leafy beast
Around which wild things increased.
(Plus she’d heard of hidden rings.
There might be many treasured things.)
Tree fell from birds to worms
And Bleve couldn’t come to terms.
She cried sky-falling storms,
So scared at what she’d earned.
Her own heart scowled and turned,
Oh, how it cracked and burned!
Another lesson too late learned.
She stood on stump in tears
As days fell down to years,
The seasons volunteered
To wipe away her fears
Till at last the trees were peers.
If you can hold your disbelief
I’ll keep this nice and brief –
Bleve grew a twig, she grew a leaf,
She grew out of her killing grief
With roots deep in the great relief
Of having woods as caring chief.

Drent poured his brain into the creek,
A twinkling jack-o-lanting leak,
Then dumped himself into his head
And tippled that out too.
He wove himself as azure thread
Through scarred sea’s blanket blue.
Drent’s self is down in deep sea bed,
He’s in the waves, ‘neath each ship’s crew,
He’s just a drop but still unique
And may be joined if you so seek.

Who made the first smile?
Who felt it worthwhile
To push in their chips
On lifting up lips
And lifted our lives
In the wisest surprise.

What’s the next smile?
Who’ll be the child
Finding something inside
That refuses to hide,
No, won’t be denied,
Indeed, needs to go wide.

What do you think?
Are you on the brink
Of putting feelings in ink
With some world wonking wink
Building a soul bridging link
In the eye of a blink.

How wolfishly wild
To dawn the next smile.

I left a smile on the corner
For you or him or her.
I took the ones they gave me,
The crooked and the wavy,
The terrible, the gleaming,
Even the smuggish seeming
And scattered them in places
They might brighten up some faces.
Sure, I held them for a while,
These toothy, charming smiles,
I know I was never owner,
A smiler’s a donor
Of some joyful little bits
Of them bursting out in fits.
But allow me to be blunt –
Please don’t smile if you don’t want.
I’m not here to steal
Some smile you don’t feel.
Was “steal” the word I wrote?
Let’s not rush to quote!
I give for every one I get!
Sure, I may admit,
I might hold them for a night,
But I say it’s only right!
Okay, I messed up, I’m on trial.
Will you forgive me for a smile?

Drawn by BMT whose work can be found here.

I don’t know.
I don’t know why or when or where or what
Or how or who or and or but.
I play and live and learn and stuff.
It’s mostly loads of toads and fluff.
Folks focus on the wrongest things
And say that I should too.
I don’t know.
Do you?
I say we go
Not knowing nothing more than
We’re together,
The end.