Sunday, February 24, 2013

No Sittin' on Go


No Sittin’ on Go!


Starter


The center
of our bodies--
the guts--
seems to be
our battery,
the starter
of the engine.
Yes, the brain
pushes the button
and away we go
according to plan,
but something inside us
has to say yes.
That's our center.






To Ponder


            1.   Imperfect as we and our ideas may be, we have to start
                  somewhere with something.

            2.   This something is other than an impulsive act, since it
                  comes from deep inside, only a spark perhaps, but
                  resident within us.

            3.   You’re not able to peer around corners, but must go
                  side-by-side with a corner to see what gives.

            4.   The first corner may offer nothing, and require no turn,
                  but you’re now on your way.

            5.   Quietness, as opposed to the rumble of impulse, allows
                  you to listen for the snap of that spark.

            6.   The engine turns over, warms up, is ready.

            7.   You grasp the possibility and push the button. No sttin’
                  on Go!



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

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Sunday, February 17, 2013

Tune in for a New Tomorrow


Tune in for a New Tomorrow


Place

It's OK, chauvinist—as I am—
looking in from the outside,
for a woman to wear the pants
in the family.
It's merely a role
thought that men should play.
So let's wipe the slate
in this band of change,
looking back on other things
when it wasn't
our ox being gored
and we always thought
it was as ordered,
and now slipping away,
it hurts.

Husbands stayed home
with the kids
as their wives,
service women,
were shipped off to war
and now return.

It won't all end well
for these pioneers
scrunching over
the bell-shaped curve,
but it will settle
and things will be different
for good.

It's the way,
with no apologies
accepted.







To Ponder


            1.         It’s amazing how fast big changes can come
                        unexpectedly, such as the fall of the Berlin Wall.

            2.         There are seers who see and some who don’t see. Truth
                        is, most of us can be surprised by what comes.

            3.         Social change always hurts someone, or even large
                        numbers of people. Today, I’m thinking about role
                        changes between women and men.

            4.         The verdict of history seems to be we don’t go back.
                        Fads repeat, novelty repeats; that’s about it.

            5.         What we think we can’t tolerate or bear in some way,
                        most often we can.

            6.         How to rise to higher ground in peace? That’s the
                        question. How do we let things in with grace?

            7.         If we expect perfection, the ideal, we’ll be hopelessly
                        lost. What might I do for the cause?




© 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. 

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Sunday, February 10, 2013

Come On. What If?


Come On! What If?


Bootblack

If I were an equestrian,
which I'm not,
or to ride motorcycles,
which I don't,
I would wear knee-high boots
as boon companions,
and care for them myself.
Things are more than things.
The meaning is in me.






To Ponder


            1.   Do you ever find yourself seriously wondering What if?

            2.   It’s certainly not a constant activity for me, but frequently I take the asking
                  as a wake-up call.

            3.   It can put you in other peoples’ shoes, which is great for
                  empathy, but also fires up your imagination.

            4.   Events and outcomes all around us every day show us
                  who we’re not and what we’re not.

            5.   Those certitudes often result from our choices, and
                  that’s fine, but with some give on our part, also may be
                  eye-openers for new action.

            6.   What if the way a woman in the country grooms her
                  horse sparks insights on how you meet a stranger?

            7.   What if a struggling musician in a play teaches you how you trip yourself
                  up?




© 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. 

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Sunday, February 3, 2013

Roll with the Rhythm of Days


Roll with the Rhythm of Days


Abeyance

Near seven in the morning,
before this small town
is fully awake,
I sit alone on a park bench
on a low bluff
overlooking the Pacific. It is

gray and overcast with
a thick marine layer. A
chill wind blows, damp,
yet not misty,
across my face
sporting with my nose. The

surf is brilliant white
against the sullen background
and pounds loud and proud
against its old friends,
the rocks, below.
Here in a worn out blue

jacket with its collar
high and tight, my hair
tousled in vainglorious splendor—
almost matching that of the surf—
I look, look, look . . .
then look. Not today.





To Ponder


            1.   Even on days when our schedules aren’t full or
                  accounted for, we may begin with a sense of
                  expectation.

            2.   Those expectations may be quite specific under certain
                  circumstances, or at others loose, with high feeling or
                  apprehension.

            3.   Looking back on my share of such days and their ranges,
                  I have been elated, merely confirmed without fanfare,
                  and also dashed.

            4.   Eventually, I concluded this was not a good way to live.

            5.   I came to think, “Why not simply wait and see, and
                  suspend the need to predict?

            6.   A researcher’s mandate might be “prediction leads to
                  control, and let the odds be your guide.”

            7.   You might also consider, “Let’s see and let it be.” Less
                  smart, more accepting, leaning toward what seems like
                  the rhythm of life.




© 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. 

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