GOTTA LIFE PLAN?

Forget the dream of your ‘five-year plan’,

Your PowerPoint to glory’s gate;

Just do the thing that’s in your hand,

And do it well coz the rest can wait.

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Don’t chase down joy as if it’s a fox,

You’ll scare it deep into its lair

Stay busy, kind, even unorthodox,

And let delight hold you as if it’s air

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Remember the cosmic fluke, we call ‘luck’. 

The sperm that swam, the school that taught.

Don’t claim and strut as if you wrote the book,

when you borrowed pages someone else bought.

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Move your body, stretch, don’t moan,

It’s cheaper than religion’s fee.

A jog can fix what fear has grown,

And keep your mind from entropy.

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Be brutal with your sacred views,

They age like milk, unlike fine wine.

Test every thought, adjust and renew

Admit when you’re wrong, you’ll still be fine.

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Teach what you know, a trick or a tale,

A recipe or a way to beat fear.

We’re as brief as sparks on the Devil’s thumbnail,

so light up the dark whilst you are here.

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Respect the ones who clean your mess,

Who pour your drink or sweep your floor;

The measure of your gentleness

Is how you treat the tired and poor.

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Don’t worship money, fame, or clout,

they stab your gut, twist your brain

You can’t buy grace, as you’ll find, no doubt,

that death gives nowt and keeps the change!

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And don’t rush life, it’s not a race,

You’ll trip before you break the tape

Be lost, be late, it’s no disgrace;

The best fruit grows as you sit and wait. 

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But most of all define your flame.

Don’t waste breath telling of stuff you hate.

Love loudly and don’t be shy or tame,

Help the world to carry its weight. 

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Singing of books, or jazz, or rain,

Of every laugh that saves your hide

Let cynics choke on their disdain,

Joy is rebellion so mount-up and ride!

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A Haiku:

That hour won’t return

Footprints fill with river rain

I stand with what stays