Sunday, January 27, 2013

Take the Measure of the Day



Take the Measure of the Day



Strands

Intricate, delicate,
the web in an upper
corner of my garage.
The (to me) nameless spider
is moving so quickly, adroitly
over those slim strands.
Graceful though she is,
she seems too big for them,
too active at the moment

for them to hold.
But they do
as she goes about her business,
pretending I’m not here,
repairing or extending,

I don’t know.
I see no entangled prey
So I’m thinking that today
the job is maintenance.





To Ponder


            1.   Some days are meant to set themselves up without our
                  help.

            2.   At least at their beginning, we best approach them with a
                  light heart and open hand.

            3.   We don’t know where they should go, what they should  
                  do, or what they will provide or demand.

            4.   That is, until . . . or unless we fall into their rhythm, so
                  unlike what we may have had in mind.

            5.   If we can bring ourselves to care, the question to ponder
                  is What wants to be seen, heard or felt.

            6.   Slow now, listen, look—it’s all soft to the eyes, ears and
                  skin.

            7.   Now, go there. It’s likely to turn out well.




© 2013 Allan Cox, Allan Cox & Associates Inc. All Rights Reserved.
__________________________________________________________

If you enjoy reading this story, you may wish to order WHOA! Are They Glad You’re in Their lives? available on Amazon Kindle and in print edition too. 

  • Kindle Edition: WHOA! Are They Glad You're in Their Lives?

  • Print Edition: WHOA! Are They Glad You're in Their Lives?


Labels: , ,

Sunday, January 20, 2013

See What Has Been Wrought


See What Has Been Wrought


Farm
What is a farm?
I mean the old
family farm . . .
If I knew I’d share it with you,
so taken am I
with the original idea.
                        But that doesn’t seem
to work anymore.
Don’t get me wrong,
the farm has rumblings—
the underside of thunder
that jostles from the innards
of the current survivors.
                        The hours they work
in acceptance of fears
bring a pittance
for their efforts
only because the
property they’ve owned
for so long brings
an owner’s return.
                        But it won’t last.
Here’s the story:
Love that farmer’s daughter,
smart at school,
gone for honors
at the university.
She’ll be a senator
some day—
corrupt and hapless
as that may seem.
She’ll appear
and work and do
and inspire the next,
planting seeds that take root.




To Ponder

            1.   Ways of life pass by and are gone. Their absence is more
                  than memories of youth that have thinned out.

            2.   They’re really gone, not to be repeated, no longer
                  serviceable to new tastes and ambitions.

            3.   What has gone that you remember warmly is still part of
                  you and helped make you.

            4.   There’s a rightful place in life for regret, not a clinging, but
                  appreciation for past value.

            5.   Typically, we move through these passages without much
                  difficulty, or even thinking about them.

            6.   Then looking back, the true lesson is seeing the gift in the
                  evolving landscape; how we have grown by what’s been
                  sacrificed.

            7.   What green shoots have made their appearance? What
                  have we planted that we’d overlooked?





© 2013 Allan Cox, Allan Cox & Associates Inc. All Rights Reserved.
__________________________________________________________

If you enjoy reading this story, you may wish to order WHOA! Are They Glad You’re in Their lives? available on Amazon Kindle and in print edition too. 

  • Kindle Edition: WHOA! Are They Glad You're in Their Lives?

  • Print Edition: WHOA! Are They Glad You're in Their Lives?




Labels: , ,

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Find Destiny Around the Corner


Find Destiny Around the Corner


Force

Just now,
it whispered itself
out of my mouth—
a funny word,
extruded—
I heard
as a young boy
and didn’t know.
It stayed with me—
that weird word
I never learned
in a formal way—
till I somehow
felt its meaning.
Moments ago,
to serve the haunting,
I looked it up.
Do you have a
word like that,
one that forces
its way out of you?






To Ponder


            1.   Seemingly, some things come along out of nowhere
                  and make a claim on us.

            2.   I have found myself responding to a question about
                  which I know little, getting into it, and seeing that I know
                  quite a bit .

            3.   What, lying beneath the surface, are you prepared to
                  take on to which you bring unique strengths?

            4.   There’s a word for seeing what others—and even you—
                  haven’t seen and now do: Creativity!

            5.   There’s often an uncanny timeliness between what
                  freshly has been discovered and some need that new
                  knowledge serves.

            6.   Be receptive to a funny sound you’ve never heard
                  before, a taste for a new dish, going where you’ve never
                  gone.

            7.   See how natural it can be to make a new friend of
                  someone you’ve always avoided.




© 2013 Allan Cox, Allan Cox & Associates Inc. All Rights Reserved.
__________________________________________________________

If you enjoy reading this story, you may wish to order WHOA! Are They Glad You’re in Their lives? available on Amazon Kindle and in print edition too. 

  • Kindle Edition: WHOA! Are They Glad You're in Their Lives?

  • Print Edition: WHOA! Are They Glad You're in Their Lives?


Labels: , ,

Find me at Starbucks

Allan Cox Word Art