PostPoems Be Artistic. Be Creative. Be Inspired!

We watched the sun rise on the west coast of Florida

over a landscape vast and wide

Then we drove 200 miles across the state

to watch it set on the other side.

This morning we watched it rise again

200 miles away from our home by car

And I thought isn’t it amazing how the sun rises 

on all of us

no matter who we are?

Each morning without a doubt in her mind

she rises and our day begins…

She doesn’t care about our nationality, 

our religion

or the color of our skin.

She doesn’t care about our sexual preferences

if we are athletic, 

coordinated 

or lame.

Every morning without fail…

she rises just the same.

She doesn’t care if we’re fat 

or thin,

if we’re tiny, 

blind, 

deaf 

or tall

When she rises she doesn’t seem to care

what any of us look like at all

Perhaps the sun is sending us a message…

as sunrise after sunrise we see…

If she can rise above all our differences

Perhaps she’s saying…

so can’ we.

Here’s an interesting fact about the color of our skin:

the section that holds the color is unusually thin.

I imagine to our creator…it was a snap…a finger flick

making the section with our pigment only a millimeter thick.

I’m sure she had her reasons…perhaps it wasn’t even functional

Perhaps she just wanted to make our world a little more beautiful.

Perhaps even though he was the creator he was inquisitive

perhaps he wanted to see how people of different colors live. 

Perhaps after creating in us similar brains, and eyes and hearts

he wanted to give us a simple way of telling each other apart. 

Perhaps she wanted us to look both outside as well as in

and see there is so much more to who we are than the color of our skin.

Perhaps her belief in her creations was both resolute and strong…

and she never guessed there would be reasons we would not get along…

My guess is he didn’t think it important…the color of our skin 

which is why when creating all our pieces she made our color part so thin.

Perhaps our creator hoped…from the moment our life begins

We would use our brain, our eyes and our heart…to see past the color of our skin.

After all, if our creator made color such a small part of you…

and such a small part of me

If she didn’t think it that important…

I wonder…

why do we?

Just the other day I had a chance to run my DNA

and was pleasantly surprised at what I found.

Other friends and family say they’ve also run their DNA

and ended up surprised if not spellbound.

For once my DNA was scanned…at this point I began

to understand we are all a little more related than we think.

How quickly I did see how many different people make up me

and how it seems with everyone I have a link.

A little DNA shows there is a flood….a mix of people in our blood

made up from lands both near and far…

who across these many years…somehow it appears

have had a hand in creating who we are.

If we trace our bloodline back…we may find that we are black

all from a little DNA

We might come to know…in our blood is Latino

and I imagine some people in our past were straight and others gay. 

Which makes me wonder if members of the KKK should ever run their DNA

Would they dismiss this fact or be enthralled….

could they possibly conceive…despite what they believe

We are not one race but a mixture of them all!

Would they be upset…would they be angry…feel mad

to think how we are all one symmetry? 

Or would prejudice slowly melt away… due to a little DNA

and would we begin to see the end of hate and bigotry.

People of the world refuse to unite…we continue our wars and fights

despite what our spiritual thinkers say…

Wouldn’t it be great…if what ultimately makes the world cooperate…

is just a simple little bit of DNA?

When we meet somebody new…perhaps with a different point of view

We know not the things their eyes have seen.

We don’t know a thing about he or she…we only know what we can see…

We know not the many places they have been.

When at first we choose to meet…we know their story’s incomplete

We know not if their’s is a life of silence or one of noise.

It’s hard at first to ascertain…to get inside their brain

when we know not their sorrows or their joys

Perhaps we smile, shake their hands….unable to fully understand

how many times in life they may have cried.

We try to read their face…wondering what has brought them to this place

and are they showing us humility or pride

It is within our own discretion…to form a first impression

not knowing how many times they may have been confused…

And though first impressions can be strong… they also can be wrong

for we know not if or when their hearts have been abused.

So what are we to do…when we meet somebody new?

What would be prudent, sensible and wise?

Perhaps it would be great…to make our first impression wait

to try to see the world through someone else eyes.

To make a point each day…not to push others away

for this is not, I hope, what we’ve been taught.

For once we see life through their eyes…I think we’d be surprised

and realize we have more in common than we thought.

I recently left some water on the table…only half a cup

but I was thirty so I took the water pitcher and quickly filled it up…

As I poured water into water it became obvious to me

when the water from the pitcher met the water from the cup…

they blended easily.

And once the two waters joined together

once they were completely blended 

I could not tell where one water began 

and where the other water ended.

And I thought it doesn’t matter where this water comes from 

out of my spigot or across the sea

when I pour water into water…they blend so easily.

And I thought it doesn’t matter the color of the waters

because it’s easy to comprehend

when water is mixed with water…

how easily they blend.

In fact the colors blend quite beautifully

without having to be taught

when one water is a color…and the other one is not.

When two colors of water come together

both colors are transformed…

and from two separate colors

a new color is formed….

It led me to think about water…and humans

and it suddenly occurred to me

If humans are mostly made up of water

shouldn’t we blend more easily?

BANANAS

The banana is a delicious fruit.

It’s elongated…curved…and kind of cute

It’s true all bananas are called bananas

they all share the banana name

but when we look more closely…we notice

no two bananas are the same. 

They can be long or short or fat or thin

some can be yellow…some are green

yet when someones says banana…

we know exactly what they mean.

Still, despite the differences in bananas

(if you need a reminder…see above)

the banana in all it’s diversity

is a fruit most of us love

We don’t care where they have come from…

or how they are transported

If they’re grown inside this country…

or if they are imported.

In truth whether we’re looking at them closely 

or seeing them from afar

we tend not to take any notice of how different all bananas are….

or even if we do notice…we never make a fuss

because the differences between bananas 

is meaningless to us.

Wouldn’t it be amazing in this country

from Main to California…from Texas to Montana

If we humans thought of other humans…

like we think of our bananas?

After listening to his final lesson 

the wise one was approached by a young woman and young man…

“We have a question.” they asked softly. 

He nodded, 

“I will answer it if I can.”

“We’ve listened to all your teachings.” They said

“We’ve taken them to heart.

You’ve taught us about beauty 

about friendship, love and art.” 

“You’ve taught us about acceptance and compassion

about how to have an open mind.

You’ve taught us about peace, 

about wisdom.

You’ve taught us to be kind.”

“We’ve listened and we’ve learned.” they said

“We’ve held on to your every breath.

Yet of all the subjects you have taught…

Yet you never speak of death?”

Their teacher looked at them and smiled, 

touched their shoulders 

then began to speak…

“Death eventually finds us.” he said…

“All the others…

we must seek.”

The last thing I do before I get into bed…is remove my glasses from my head.

When young my thinking was innocent…my emotions raw…I assumed everyone saw the world I saw.

I was never annoyed…I didn’t worry….I imagined everyone’s world turned just as blurry.

I thought every star faded from everyone’s view…I thought everyone’s world turned foggy too.

Being young at heart I theorized…at night the worlds colors harmonized.

As I prayed the lord my soul to keep…I assumed this was how the world did sleep.

Looking back now I have to scoff…at my first thought with my glasses off.

How naive and innocent could I be…to think everyone saw the world like me!

Now that I’m older I know this to be true…that there are many visions…many points of view.

Still every night as I get ready for bed…when I remove my glasses from my head.

as the colors of people, their shapes and their size…all blend together…all harmonize…

with my glasses off I must proclaim……how, to me, everybody looks the same…

So with may glasses off it makes me think…the world looks so much more in sync.

It’s a nice feeling when the day is done…to see how the world blends together as one…

And it leads me to wonder what kind world this would be…if everyone saw the way I see. 

Would we all rejoice…or we scoff…if just for a moment…we took our glasses off.

I do not like the word different…it cuts too much like a knife

It adds to the trouble in our world…it causes so much strife.

When we see someone as different fear seeps into our minds

and where there’s fear…animosity and prejudice are never far behind.

What starts out merely as a way to tell that person apart from you or me

somehow ends up with people treating one another differently.

We end up in a word of labels, a world of discrimination and entropy.

A world of injustice, a world of oppression, of wars and bigotry. 

A world where suspicion and distrust rule and seeds of animosity are sown 

all caused when we find traits in people that are different from our own.

What if we looked at one another in a completely different way?

What if there is a word that would keep our fear at bay?

What if we weren’t afraid of diversity but reveled in it’s mystique

and instead of seeing others as different…we saw them as unique?

Perhaps then, in each life, we might focus on the good things that we see

and in the end create a world filled with peace and harmony.

I imagine by now many of you are thinking this man is different, he’s a freak

but I suggest I am not different…I, like you, am totally unique!

(Did you notice when you called me different a host of negatives abound

but when you use the word unique...see how wonderful I sound?)

It seems to me we should strive for a world where differences are not critiqued…

a world where people are more accepting…

now wouldn’t that be unique!