Tinkering with the Karma Machine

 

Tenaciously tinkering with the Karma Machine,

making some adjustments, mostly small.

—

Actually listening when daydreaming

comes more natural, making eye contact.

Maybe smiling to not burden others 

with my burning melancholy concerns.

Filling bird feeders in the bitter cold and

giving the dog a few more minutes outside.

Agreeing to do the little extra, at work or at 

home, when inclinations are saying otherwise.

—

Tenaciously tinkering with the Karma Machine,

a sincere investment with the hope of return.

***

Creativity is a Flow

 

1

Floating.

2

Paddling over

an abyss.

3

Creativity is a flow 

that you can ride,

an ever-cresting wave.  

4

Until the wave crashes 

and throws you 

wet and dejected 

onto the beach.  

5

Where you sit 

on the sand, 

knees to chest,

looking longingly 

out over the ocean.

6

Wondering when 

a wave will

find you again

to rediscover 

the exhilaration 

of creating.

***

The Red Snapper

 
The Captain of the Red Snapper
is trapped, though once the trapper.

Peering through a translucent eye
ice upon ice is all he does spy.

Dive! Dive! rings the bell in its belly.
It is warm inside, but also smelly.

“I don’t want to die
in this monstrously large fish!”
he can’t help but cry
as he makes this last wish.

Dive! Dive! in the belly of the snapper.
He is trapped who once was the trapper.

***

Hearts Shine Through

Seeing Kevin in a dream

but Vincent is there too.

The world transformed

by their vision

nearly blind - mentally ill

but somehow 

their hearts shine through.

***

Gifts from Greta

 

Some time in the recent past Elias has discovered Greta Van Fleet and come to enjoy their music which really surprises me.  He is not much of a Rock music fan and my attempts to get him to listen to King’s X over the years has not borne fruit (Dogman, Black the Sky, Groove Machine, etc), but here he is playing Rock via GVF over my car speakers since being home on break.

I’ve heard of Greta Van Fleet but I could not have told you any of their songs or even what their sound was like.   Elias played “Heat Above” in my car yesterday and I immediately heard the influences of RUSH and Led Zeppelin.  Some of the songs are uncanny in this regard.  I had him pull up RUSH’s “Fly by Night” and he immediately saw the similarities with Geddy Lee.

I guess that is one of the pleasures of being the father of a growing and developing human being.  He not infrequently surprises me with some new insight or developmental milestone that I was not expecting.  I objectively know he is an independent and unique human being but the parent’s temptation is to think we fully know them or nearly so.  It’s fun to be proven wrong!

***