"Song for the New Year"

The trees lean in.
The last of the autumn leaves rustle.

The wind crinkles
and stirs the basket in your hands.

Today, you are here,
in the crisp cusp of morning,
shivering.

Somewhere, a teacher erases a blackboard.
A student erases an answer.
You drag your soles across patterns in the mud.
Erasure, closure,
beginning.

You reach into your ocean heart
and pull out promises,
words smooth and rough, tall and small.

Today we learn resilience,
purpose, faith, strength.
Chance, forgiveness, possibility.

You close your eyes.
The sky broadens and lightens.
The market opens its doors.

The lights flick on like tongues
lapping at your heels.

Forward.

Reinventing Work

One of my favorite things about the end of the year is that it's a perfect opportunity to reflect on your year and start thinking about improvements you can make for the next year, in all aspects of your life. Arguably, one of the most important things that we as a society can collectively improve on is our work ethic. In 1949, William Reilly wrote a book entitled How to Avoid Work, which discusses the long-debated issue of passion versus conventional, "safe" careers. I find it especially apt for the time of year, because it gives me a few things to think about as we move into a brand-new year, brimming with possibility and opportunity. Here are some gems from his book.

To my mind, the world would be a much pleasanter and more civilized place to live in, if everyone resolved to pursue whatever is closest to his heart’s desire. We would be more creative and our productivity would be vastly increased.

Altogether too much emphasis, I think, is being placed on what we ought to do, rather than what we want to do.

For you, life can be a succession of glorious adventures. Or it can be a monotonous bore.

Take your choice!

The following snippet is perhaps my favorite because it speaks to every single one of us. I can't begin to count the number of times I've used lack of time as an excuse not to do something. I think we can all benefit from learning a little about how to use our time!

The next time you feel that you ‘haven’t the time’ to do what you really want to do, it may be worthwhile for you to remember that you have as much time as anyone else — twenty-four hours a day. How you spend that twenty-four hours is really up to you.

(via Brain Pickings)

"Nocturnal"

Even though it's December (hooray!), I still thought it would be fun to continue posting a few more of my poems from the November PAD challenge. This one is from Day 29.

White walls.
White lights.
Bleach. Disinfectant.
Linoleum floors
that squeal under wet shoes.
Machines hum
in hypnosis.
This ward is a jungle.
Bones wait, fluttering,
curious,
wings ready.
You are breathless.
You wrap your cold fingers
around her warm ones,
stare at charts and graphs
like you know what they mean.
Clock. Rain. Chair.

"Rinse and Repeat"

I toss a prickly weed across the grass.
Dirt sinks into my fingernails,
runs itself deep between skin and keratin.
I stack memories in the hole in the ground,
lather them into the postwar cavity.

You are easy to wash away.
I dig my fingers under another thorny vine,
pull apart its roots like strands of hair.
The sky grays over my head.

"In the Heart of Winter"

*taken down*

"How to Listen"

I really like posting these PAD poems. This one is from Day 17.

When I was in fifth grade,
my teacher taught us to listen.
We had to hush impossibly
while she played cassettes of Maya Angelou,
Bill Cosby, even Randy Travis.
She told us to pay attention to the way they sculpted language.
It made me cry every time.
We'd watch from our seats,
carefully waiting,
and when the words tumbled out
like butterflies bursting from their cocoons
we were quiet
and we listened,
silent but restless,
fluttering our wings.

The Power of Quiet

Those of you who know me well (or follow me on Twitter) know that I'm a proud introvert and, therefore, a big fan of Susan Cain, who's done probably more work than anyone else in championing the benefits of introversion. She gave a highly-celebrated TED Talk earlier this year, and her book "Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking" (long title, I know!) has been buzzed about a lot.

The video above, which is an animation of Susan's RSA talk, is an absolute gem. (via Brain Pickings)