“Why do you keep entering the ring?” they asked the aging boxer.

“Because outside the ring, the flowers that bloom are eaten by the deer that graze, and they are eaten by the wolves that hunt, and they are eaten from within by their fear of their young.

“Because outside the ring, in your cushioned offices and heated factories you are pummeled and ravaged by the fists of time until you are left bloodied and dead on the canvas of your life.

“Because outside the ring, the children who think they are not children play their dangerous games until one by one they are knocked to the ground by life.

“At least here I face the fist of fear with eyes open, gloriously aware of where I am, rather than get punched in the back of my head by the illusion that I am not in the ring.”

When pigs fly, the world will see a profound transformation in the umbrella industry.

If you try to put a frog
in a pot of boiling water
it will try to jump out
to save its life. 

If you put a frog
in a pot of cold water,
then slowly raise the temperature,
science has shown us
when the water gets too warm
the frog will also jump out. 

Frogs ain’t stupid. 

Why are we?

We are all unstable; yet some of us balance better than others.

There is the strongman who stands upon the ground balancing;
And nothing (not wind, nor rain, nor sleet, nor snow) will make him move;
A thousand tiny muscles constantly adjusting inside;
While he smiles, immobile, before the onslaught.

There is the child playing with motion;
Mother gently holding hands;
Who swings from side to side until he holds the spot;
And their laughter makes him fall.

There are the lovers, hands interchanged;
One swaying left and the other swaying right;
As they learn that balance together
Is easier than balance alone.

And then there are the dancers, 
Who flow the instability from extreme to extreme, 
Swaying to some beat they hear and we see,
And we cannot look away.

True beauty though, 
True beauty,
Comes in the circus. 
As the dancers hold the lovers
Who hold the children
Who hold the strong men
Who hold the dancers;
As the music courses and
A rhythm takes hold 
That hides the imperfections;
We strum strum strum
In beat beat beat
To the sway sway sway;
And balance together
With music from nowhere
Turns instability to art.

Once I was the oak upon the hill, strong and resolute.
As the winds came, I sheltered the sheep beneath my boughs,
And with a low grumble stood still against the storm.

And a leaf fell.
And a twig snapped.
And a branch fell.
And my trunk cracked and I tumbled.

And so I thought,
I must not be an oak.

I pretended to be a palm.
I learned to bend, to twist, to turn.

In light winds the sheep still sheltered, but
In the storms I yelled, “run you fools run!”

Alone before the tempest
I would dance,
Swing wildly,
Toss my body, my mind, my soul
Against the ground and air, and yell
“I can withstand! I can withstand!”

And a fruit fell.
And a frond snapped.
And a branch fell.
And my trunk cracked and I tumbled.

And now?

From an acorn I grow anew,
Amongst the palms, the sycamores and the ashes.
The willows weep around me.
The holly bushes snare lovers ‘neath their thorns.
Our roots mix and our seeds mingle as
The sheep graze beneath the canopy.

So when the storms come
My oakish torso
Will take my share
As we raise our leaves to the heavens.

And the fruit shall grow.
And the leaves shall wave.
And the branches will soar
As our trunks worship the forest for our trees.