"A Momentary Revolution"

Did You Know That Mama Shaq
Is A Remarkable Woman
Who Encourages Us All to Walk with Purpose?

Do You Realize You Have the Power to Renew Your Mind
And Can Tap Dance Your Way to Inner Freedom?

There is a Current in our Cultural Waters
A Movement that Yearns for a Life Beyond Material Gain
When a Six-Month Old Baby
Reaches for You with Wide Open Arms
And Strangers Can Smile at You on the Train

Did You Know that Musicians of Yesterday and Today
Could Feel this Too
And the Famous Tunes of U2 Had Biblical Roots
Where John Lennon Was Not The Only Dreamer
And Frank Sinatra Said We Could Live 'Our Way?'

Did You Know That Annie Really Meant It When She Said
'The Sun Will Come Up Tomorrow'
And That 'We Are The World' Was A Call
For Us To Awaken
And Be More Than We Thought We Could Be?

Did You Know That Professors of Psychology
Are Studying the Power of Presence
And Teenagers Learn Yoga in School
And That There is Real Value
In Just This Moment
Between Me and You?

"A Living Dream"

She Sits Quietly On a Pew
Right Outside the Judge's Courtroom
With Small-Framed Glasses and Little Endearing Curls
Checking her Iphone and Peering Below the Rail
For a Client at Family Court in Need

I Come Upon Her with a Smile
A Memory of this Cheerful Being
With a Vision to Lawyer on Her Own Terms
To Help and To Empower
The Voiceless with a Voice
To Restore a Family with a Child
To Help a Woman Secure her Freedom
To Give a Grandmother her Grandchild Back

This Petite Young Woman
In a Business Suit
Sparkles with Joy
Ignites Me with Hope

She is a Little Bulb of Bright Light
A Luminary of the Law
Awakening me to See
A Piece of Me
In Her Too
And Now I Know
My Dream Will Come True

~Inspired by a 'run-in' with a little lawyer/friend in the Suffolk County Probate&Family Court last week.

"A Light in the Cafe"

A Precious Baby
With a Golden Hue
A Purple Onesie
And a Bib with Purple Polka Dots too

A Little Tongue with an Open Mouth
Looking for the Nourishment of Sweet Milk
The Elixir of Life
Contained in a Baby Bottle
As her Papa Cradles her in his Arms

Her Chubby Thighs and Plump Cheeks
Those Dented Elbows and Miniature Feet
Wiggle Around in a New World

She Begins to Gnaw on her Little Fingers
And Her Big Deep Black Eyes
Look Up as they Sparkle
And Light Up All Around

-Inspired by a little baby in a purple jumpsuit, having her lunch @ Au Bon Pain in the middle of Harvard Square...

"Corner Store Wisdom"

Wisdom can be just around the corner. I went to my favorite local convenient store in my neighborhood of Brighton, 'The Father & Son Market.' The owner who manages the store has rather chubby cheeks and cheerful eyes. He has a jovial demeanor which is useful in brightening the days of the customers who come in with harried and glum expressions, suggesting they are leading miserable or mundane lives as they buy large quantities of ice cream drumsticks, complain about their husbands, and purchase lottery tickets with a cynical mind, and openly state how they know they will lose. The customers continue to flow in and out of the store as the door chime rings, signaling the entry and exit of each new cusomter. After a few minutes, the friendly store owner, whom I call, 'uncle' begins to share a story with me about 'Shakti' after I mentioned to him I just came back from a yoga retreat, and felt rejuvenated and bright. He tells me that many people in his store spend their days cramming their minds with thoughts and then try to find their blessings in junk food, lottery tickets, and beer after feeling abnormally tired after only one day of work. He eagerly summons me to listem to him. He had a story to share. So he starts to tell me the story of two men. Here it goes:

One peaceful man sat beneath a tree. An angry man came to him shouting an onslaught of horrific words to him for three straight hours. Surprised that the peaceful man remained quiet and did not flinch or become reactive, the angry man questions him saying,"How is it that after all of the insults I have slung at you, you are not angry with me and never replied back to me?" To this, the peaceful man says, "Sir, if you gave me $1 as a gift and I did not want it, then surely I would return it back to you, right?" The angry man, reples, "Yes." Then the man of peace says, "Well, your three hours of angry words was a gift I did not want. So, instead of receiving it, it has been returned back to you. You may keep your anger." And with that, the peaceful man left the puzzled angry man and his anger, behind.

The store uncle had told this story in his own language (in Hindi). With an animated facial expression of both joy and wisdom, and with one hand gesturing in the air, in Hindi, he continues to say, "I only shared this story with you because you mentioned, yoga..." Thankful for the wise words, I expressed my gratitude and left the store with my cup of coffee in one hand and my grocery bag in the other, thinking, maybe one day, the customers too, will awaken to what the uncle is saying.

"Angels of the Universe"

A Little Girl On Her Path
Tiptoes and Whispers
Like A Child Lost in Fear

A Delicate Newborn
Pure and Pliable
With Tiny Hands and Little Toes
A Toothless Smile
And a Tender Heart
Is Born into a Coarse World
With Harsh Tongues
And Rough Edges

Open to Love but Gripped by Fear
Seeking with Wide and Innocent Eyes
Until Comes the Humble Embrace
Of A Brazilian Angel and A Yogi from Uzbekistan
The Understanding Voice of A Master from Maine
And An Indian Valley Girl of Law
The Light-Hearted but Powerful Humor
Of An African-American Girl of Chicago
And the Reflection of Herself
In a Petite Blond Professor of Art from Santa Cruz

All Ready to Awaken Her Eyes
And Open Her Arms to Love and Light