A blessing if kept, we deserve

Beyond the love of oneself

The love of a spouse

And then of a child

This union creates a house

As time passes

Our focus is misdirected

If too much self

Than the We is no longer connected

Therefore, because of our proclivity

The hierarchy shall be

The observance of the divine

Before the observance of family

The prescription

When lost in misdirection

Reconnect to the hierarchy

Depose yourself of any misconception

The fourth Decalogue

Keep the sabbath holy as we shall observe

This orientation will ground us

A blessing if kept, we deserve

…

DCG

I would have had to pretend

you may not know my name

I provided a service to our community

I was efficient in my job

I was kind when there was an opportunity

I served the public at large

I tendered them with care

I listened to their grievances

Even when nothing was really there

when we place our attention

Only on our needs

We miss out on shared experiences

Living a life only the lonely leads

self absorption is not a badge of honor

If we limit our discussions to ourselves via thought

No audience to convene and explore

Only a one-way ticket is bought 

I would have never seen the world differently

Without the influence of loved ones and friends

I would have never become the person I am today

Without the help from others

I would have had to pretend

…

DCG

The dream Smith and the doubter 

Parable: The Dreamsmith and the Doubter


In the heart of a bustling city, there lived a Dreamsmith—a quiet soul capable of crafting beautiful visions of futures yet unseen. Every night, he shaped his dreams with painstaking detail, believing that what he visualized could one day become real.


One evening, as he sat sketching a radiant cityscape beneath the moon, a weary man approached—The Doubter, worn down by years of disappointment.
Doubter: “Why do you waste your heart on fantasies? The world isn’t made from visions, but from stone and sweat—and broken hopes.”
Dreamsmith: “The world begins in the mind, friend. Imagine a road: the clearer you see it, the closer you are to walking it.”
Doubter: “But hope can hurt as much as it can heal. What good is dreaming if reality cares nothing for your plans?”
Dreamsmith: “Dreams paint the outlines; actions fill them in. It’s not wrong to dream. Every stone laid was once imagined. Every triumph began as a fragile idea.”
Doubter: “So we are to be fools, then—building castles in the air while ruin nips at our heels?”
Dreamsmith: “Not fools—builders. To dream only is to drift, but to see no tomorrow is to wither. Reality is neither enemy nor friend; it’s the shape we carve with courage and persistence.”
The Doubter sat in silence, watching as the Dreamsmith returned to his sketches, each line bold, each color bright with possibility.
Doubter: “And what if the world crushes our visions?”
Dreamsmith: “Then we stand, dust off the debris, and begin again. Reality isn’t just what happens; it’s also what we dare to make.”
A wind swept through the city, carrying with it the faint scent of hope. The Doubter lingered, feeling for the first time in years the quiet pull of possibility.
This exchange highlights the eternal tension within the human spirit: our yearning to imagine, our skepticism born from disappointment, and the resilience that keeps us shaping reality despite it all. To dream is to risk disappointment, but to abandon vision is to give up the very power that moves us forward.

…

DCG

Reality check 

It’s not wrong to dream

A future that you can visualize

The more detail you envision

The closer you can realize

It will not be a simple task

It will take consistent work

To manifest a better life

Is not an easy perk

Few will achieve success

Many will simply fail

If we lose our focus and discipline

Then the dream becomes stale

Like anything – if you don’t put in the effort

You may not like the result

If your focus is too narrow and vague

Then it can be only your fault

Along the way

You will face trials and tribulations

You must meet deception and treachery from those you thought you could trust – head on

Without making insinuations

The course of your actions

Are always louder than words

Anything else

Would just be absurd

There will be times

You will need to seek guidance

Go to a well trusted source

Always ask are my values in accordance?

We may box ourselves in with our logic

We wake up years later and realize 

The image in the mirror is not what we thought

This reality check we despise

…

DCG

A prism of reflection 

Oh Lord, please forgive me

Please allow for me to better see

Come into my heart and work through me

This is how I pray to be

I could be the hedge

I could be a testimony

Allow me to demonstrate a psalm

Celebrate a ceremony

Let me be the mirror

A prism of reflection

The spectrum that shines

Radiating detection

What is the difference?

From the stories, we tell to children and the stories we tell to adults?

Which ones are fables?

Which ones get results?

The ability to communicate

To touch the Elan vital

That which is often pondered

By the monks on the mountains of Nepal

Create a memory

tell a story about what you care

Some ears will listen

On what you share

Ever experience something that is transformational?

An idea, a connection?

Something spiritual?

Viewed upon reflection?

I strive to see the catalyst

Recognize an opportunity

To grow and change

There is a design to my spontaneity

…

DCG

Only one solution exists 

I grew up with a father who was a narcissist

He also had an inferiority complex and was insecure

My sensitivity to these behaviors have echoed throughout my life

Even to this day, I am still sure

With poetic self reflection

I unravel this entangled ball 

I reveal more connections

All before and after the fall

If you suffered from severe emotional neglect in childhood

You will never forget if untreated

You will become anxiously attached with a trauma bond 

And voraciously seek approval until your soul is depleted

Trauma is generational

It can be a past on maladaptive disease

Disruptively impacting the lives of the forsaken

It will do with you what it will please

Ironically, loving the unlovable

Only one solution exists

That is forgiveness

That you cannot deny or resist

…

DCG

I filled in all the missing parts 

If women fall in love with men from what they hear

And men fall in love with women on what they see

Does this explain why women wear make up and men lie?

A paradox of human behavior and controversy

You’ve never really opened up to me

I think now I know the reasons why

I filled in all of the missing parts

My mind created a world for you, but I filtered out the noise in the sky

When given Little information

Confirmation bias just may take hold

But at the end of the day

Truth comes out and will be told

I try not to attach to the flaws of other people

I have my struggle I must own

I forgive and move forward

I hope this is shown

When you see behind the mask

Make sense of the struggle and the ordeal

We have an opportunity and a choice

On what to do and how we should feel

Understanding is important

But it is not the end all cure

The hard part is finding a resolution 

Your intentions must be pure

Many people won’t accept these terms

Many people will get stuck in their head

They will not self reflect

They will justify and turn around instead

I’m sure you think

I won’t accept you if I truly knew who you are

and so the masquerade

You shield your ego from afar

If I was wrong

You didn’t have to play along

But I know what you did

Who you gonna kid

Just how do you get?

701

Active again

After all has been said and done

RSP

…

DCG

Heal with me RP

Been up and down, been flipped around

a life filled with loss

And I’m damaged goods it’s understood

With my luck, it’s up to a coin toss

Right side up

Or upside down

I met you at the right moment

And it was you that I found

I will never forget- When I took notice

As you came up and spoke with me

How could I have ever known?

You would be the one to make me see

I lived with being broken

For all of these years

Sometimes it takes a lifetime

To mend a heart as you shed the tears

I know I have a responsibility

My purpose is to heal

You have awakened me inside

And now again, I can truly feel

You can release the Kraken

I will still be all in

Understanding the reasons for our suffering

And where it all begins

Heal with me RP

I know at first, it might be strange

I think maybe we both

Could use a change

A change in how we see the world

And some of the people in our lives

Who said painful words

That cut into us like knives

I’m one that can appreciate

All you have to bring

The goodness you radiate

Makes my heart sing

Because of this bond

My heart is in tune

It resonates with yours

It beats even harder with you under the full moon

There is something very special

An opportunity to mend a soul

One hurt in the past

A part of which someone stole

Let the next words of this poem

Be written as we spend time together

May we heal each other?

Birds of a feather ….

RSP

…

DCG

Which will be my finality? 

You can bury your emotions and feelings

Way way down and deep

But you can’t forget them

If attached to a painful memory that you no longer want to keep

You learn from childhood that You must suppress your feelings

You tell me “they are something you just don’t do“

At the same time, you wipe the tears away and say

Shoo fly shoo

We both fear abandonment

You dismissively avoid and I anxiously attach

A magnetic connection

Prone to an abrupt dispatch

No, I won’t talk

I’ll just listen

Write another poem

About what we’re missin’

The hardest thing I’ve ever done

Caught between two realities

With or without you

Which will be my finality?

RSP

…

DCG

Already Gone

Song by Kelly Clarkson ‧ 2009

Remember all the things we wanted
Now all our memories, they’re haunted
We were always meant to say goodbye
Even with our fists held high
It never would have worked out right, yeah
We were never meant for do or die

I didn’t want us to burn out
I didn’t come here to hurt you now
I can’t stop

I want you to know
That it doesn’t matter
Where we take this road
Someone’s gotta go
And I want you to know
You couldn’t have loved me better
But I want you to move on
So I’m already gone

Looking at you makes it harder
But I know that you’ll find another
That doesn’t always make you wanna cry
Started with a perfect kiss
Then we could feel the poison set in
Perfect couldn’t keep this love alive

You know that I love you so
I love you enough to let you go

I want you to know
That it doesn’t matter
Where we take this road
Someone’s gotta go
And I want you to know
You couldn’t have loved me better
But I want you to move on
So I’m already gone

I’m already gone
Already gone
You can’t make it feel right
When you know that it’s wrong
I’m already gone
Already gone
There’s no moving on
So I’m already gone

Already gone
Already gone
Ooh, oh
Already gone
Already gone
Already gone, yeah

Remember all the things we wanted
Now all our memories, they’re haunted
We were always meant to say goodbye

I want you to know
That it doesn’t matter
Where we take this road
Someone’s gotta go
And I want you to know
You couldn’t have loved me better
But I want you to move on
So I’m already gone

I’m already gone
Already gone
You can’t make it feel right
When you know that it’s wrong
I’m already gone
Already gone
There’s no moving on
So I’m already gone

I believe in you

With every day that passes

With all the time we share

I believe in your ability

Against the world that is not fair

The California sky

In OB you and I

In South Beach and Sunshine

We watched the surf in our eye

Barhopping from the harp on Newport

To the joint on cable

Such a beautiful day

Was it a dream, a date, or a fable?

Turns out there was a bike shop

Just where I said it was

Would have loved to see the look on your face

Because, because, because, because

As we talked

Throughout the day

I listened carefully

On everything you had to say

I believe in you

You know who you are

But there are times when you doubt

When you shut yourself down-You take it too far

I’ve seen how you interact with people

You are grateful, kind, and give from the heart

That is a genuine quality I admire

I also think you’re pretty smart

I’ve seen the glimpse of your character

There is much to you that bodes well

Your charms are not lost on me

And for reasons of my own it is in this way that I must tell

RSP

…

DCG