What Should I Do? Ask God! Revolutionary ImproVerse Haiku

I pray and ask God/
“What should I do?” The answer/
is always just “Love.”

#LightTheWorldNow #BuildTheKingdom

What I Expect Me To Do– My Manifesto: Revolutionary IMprov Prose

A Facebook friend posted about the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing at Trump’s Inauguration. He was critical, because he is critical of Trump. I told him I get that Trump is not a nice person, but I have hope he can change. His response:
“Why do you hope he can change? … I will work with him when he does something that is good for america. That is a lot more than the GOP ever did for obama and america.”

My response is, I think, my Manifesto about politics, and maybe about disagreeing and living life in general:

“I guess that’s the Audacity of Hope, part 2. Since I’m party agnostic, I can’t speak for what the Democrats or the Republicans can do.
All I know is that when we sit there and say well I’m not going to because you didn’t and I’m not going to because you won’t, then we become just like those we criticize. That’s not what I’m trying to do.
I’m trying to do something different.
Eight years ago , I watched a man get inaugurated, the man whose politics I don’t agree with, a man whose views of America are sharply in opposition to mine, and a man who I hoped would never take office. And that January morning I heard words from a poet that inspired me, inspired me to start writing, inspired me to change my life, inspired me to try to be a better person.
6800 poems and prose pieces later, I am a different man than I was that January morning.
I hate less,
I love more,
I see opportunities where I saw none before,
and I am daily seizing the day.
How sad my future might have been had I boycotted his inauguration just because I disagreed with him.
As I said before, I may not be able to change the world, but I can change myself, and maybe by changing myself, I can help change the world.“

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I’m Open To Work: Revolutionary IMprov Free Verse

My arms
And ears
And heart
Are open.

If yours are, too,
Then let’s meet,
And love,
And work together.

But if all you do
Is rage
And scream
“What the F*!K!”
And
“You’re a [insert name-calling phrase here] idiot!”
because of my vote,
I won’t know how we
can best work together
To change the world.

The Couple Seated In Front Of Me: Romantic Email Free Verse

I watched as
Her fingers traced
tenderness,
love,
caring,
and devotion
across her husband’s
weary,
White-shirted back.

Her head leaned
into his burdened shoulder
And she squeezed
His tired muscles
as a contented,
peaceful
smile
danced across her face.

I watched as
Her dainty left hand,
with love-banded heart finger,
Lifted his cares,
Struggles,
the weighted scales
Of dragons fought,
And thorns fought through,
And made them naught.

Oh, Women!
Wives!
Please know
the healing power
Of your caring touch!

Oh, Men!
Husbands
of such companions!
Fall on your knees
And prayerfully weep
with deep
gratitude
for these loving women,
your godly partners.

For are there are many
of us
who weep
bitter tears,
having never known
nor felt
nor been lifted
nor raised up
by such
an elevating touch.

Thank Heaven For (Grandma’s) Little Neighbor Girls: Revolutionary Email Free Verse

Grandma
lived alone,
central Wisconsin cottage
built with her husband’s hands
before he died,
too early,
there.

She was not
cottage-bound.
She could go anywhere.
But there,
she chose to stay
there
in her cottage home
and grow old.

Little neighbor girls
brought her wild flowers,
and colored leaves,
and crayon’d pictures
they’d drawn.

Eager and happy
they would show her,
and she,
with her
“Oh, how beautiful!”
exclamations,
would put the flowers
in a Blatz beer glass
on the bar,
or would tape
the colorful drawings
onto her old, white fridge,
and would chatter
excitedly
to the little neighbor girls
and learn of their day
and teach them cards
and flowers
and wild birds
and mysteries of
the lake
and the woods
and the pond
and hot chocolate.

When I,
first-born grandson,
would visit
from college,
or from traveling,
or to come home,
she would show me
the drawings,
and tell me
excitedly,
about the little neighbor girls,
M and S H’s kids,
and how wonderful they were,
and how they always
came to visit,
and how she loved
talking to them
and sharing with them.

I met them
a coupla two-tree times,
that Wisconsin way,
as they brought
wildflowers
and drawings
and love.

“Oh, how beautiful.”

Time passed.
I was there,
she and I,
alone,
when she did, too.
That sacred experience
etched deep in my mind.
A great soul
flying home.

Sometimes the little girls
would still come by
the cottage,
but it was never
the same.
Her great heart
which had filled
us all
had stilled,
and all we had
were memories
and love.

Many years later
I met
one of the little neighbor girls
unknowingly.

We were both
grown now,
a woman,
no longer little.
She needed
someone tall,
(which I am not).
And I,
aged,
didn’t know I’d seen her
and her wildflowers
and her crayon’d drawings
in Grandma’s kitchen.

We smiled
as we recalled
Grandma’s love
and warmth
and excitement.

Then,
tears welled up
as I thought of
Grandma,
alone,
in that cottage.

Most widows
whither
and dry,
and die.

But she,
surrounded by beauty,
and love,
flourished for decades.
Looking forward
to walks in the woods
and geese flying
and cardinals, finches and chickadees
feeding by the window
and crocuses and daffodils and tulips
and wildflowers
blooming
and ice out
and first frost,
and bright red/orange leaves.

And,
amidst it all,
little girls
who visited
daily,
when I could not,
who loved her
and let her love them
for years.
Extending her life
and her love
for decades.

Sobbing now,
I realize
the great gift
they gave
my Grandmother
and my family.

I don’t know
how to thank them.
I don’t know
if they can understand.
I don’t even know
their names.

I can only say:
“Thank Heaven
for my Grandma’s
little neighbor girls.”

How Does She Really Feel? Romantic IMprov Haiku

She said “love” in a/
sentence about me. Now she’s/
asking to see me.

Normal Love Sleep Patterns: Revolutionary ImproVerse Haiku

She’s trying to get/
back to a normal pattern/
of sleep. Where is love?

Friends’ Charity: Revolutionary ImproVerse Haiku

When you spend your day/
helping friends feel better, then/
that’s charity, too.

The Adversary Versus Me + God: Revolutionary Email Haiku

The Adversary/
may make you feel foolish, but/
that’s why God made me.

Changing Behavior: Revolutionary Email Free Verse Poetry

Question: “If you knew I was struggling with behaviors, and you could say something to try to help me pull out of those behaviors, what would you say?”

Answer:
When you think about
what you want to do,
when you go to your core
and think about
who you are
and why you are,
and how you are,
you know
what you supposed to be doing.
You know
what you’re supposed to be
avoiding.

And you know
who was telling you
to do bad things,
and who is encouraging you
to do good things.

And you know
that He who is telling you
to do good things
does it
out of pure love.

So do those good things,
no matter how difficult they may seem,
because He who loves you Perfectly
is never wrong.