“It’s Just Another Day”

(With thanks to James Paul McCartney)

Each day is another challenge
comprised of stair treads up and downhill slides.
We mainly go through life unaware of the burdens:
leaping over the hurdles, and avoiding the pitfalls.

Some obstacles that we soar over would destroy another;
others that some might consider amusing encounters could be the fissure that swallows us.

No one knows what the next moment brings,
what its toll could be on the next thing encountered.

Never assume you have all the answers; 
you may not even know the questions.

Be kind…

Ronda R. Scott-Marak

© 17 November 2015

Wonder

“I'm not afraid of thunder, I am full of light, I am full of wonder.” 

(With thanks to Emeli Sande)

How does one quantify the human spirit and its ability to become?  
How does one measure the depths of compassion and empathy of any sentient being, 
its drive and determination, its desire or its will? 
How does one determine what was before and what potentials the future holds?
How do we know what follows; what happens next?

I am not so stiff-necked and self-assured to believe without any doubt or hesitation that I know all there is to know, and can determine without the whiff of hubris that others either know less than I or know more than humans can ever know with predictable logic and certainty.

I believe in the god in everything, not the God of everything.
I believe in Good and Evil, Light and Dark, Probability and Chance; 

I am not terrified by Uncertainty, only Doubt.
I believe in every tinge, tint, and shade of Grey that life can devise.
I believe in what I can see, hear, touch; also trusting what I can feel, sense and intuit.
I believe that anything is possible even when little is probable.
As long as life continues, and just maybe after…

There is Infinity.

Ronda R. Scott-Marak
© 9 November 2015

Here’s to Life

(With thanks to Artie Butler and Phyllis Molinary)

When did my life become a marathon endurance contest; 
when did stubborn existence become a goal?

How does one get anything done when in constant slow-mo; 
worse yet… running backwards and in place?

Wasn't it supposed to get better with age; 
less clawing and struggling to remain one’s self?

Wasn't the promise of age one of freedom and calm; 
being, living, doing, enjoying, and not just subsisting?

How do we make living more than just being present during our own span; 
to actually participate in our minutes, hours, and days?
What does one have to do to outwit entropy; 
when do we get to do, to be, to live?

Ronda R. Scott-Marak
© 29 October 2015

'Here's to Life"

Value versus Price

(for Yitzhak)

If we had unlimited opportunities to spend on life
would we still choose to disburse death?

If we could opt for beauty, health, happiness, and peace
would we still decide to select ugliness, ill will, destruction, and war?

Why is there always time and resources for hate;
acceptance of greed, rage, ruin and devastation
but no patience for charity, tranquillity, renaissance, or goodwill?

How has humankind managed to survive
while continually destroying itself and its surroundings?

How much longer can avarice and fury be satiated with entropy and death
without ever nurturing wonder and life?

When can the sound of music drown out the guns of war,
the scent of nature surpass the smell of blood,
the green of new shoots overtake the memorial poppies?

Ronda R. Scott-Marak
© 20 October 2015

Sweet Dreams are Made of This:

(with thanks to Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart)

Deep within sleep, one can find safety or fear,
pleasure or pain, memory or loss.

Sleep can comfort, caress, disturb or delight
prod or poke, swaddle or drown.

Slumber can clarify or confuse, cause damage or heal,
energise or de-tense, teach or defeat.

In dreams we remember, re-join, and resolve;
our subconscious refreshed and restored.

With sleep we repair, we revive, we grow;
without it we wither, we diminish, we die.

Ronda R. Scott-Marak
© 29 September 2015

September of my Years

 “One day you turn around and it’s summer, next day you turn around and it’s fall”

(With thanks to Sammy Cahn)

Want, Need, Loss, Fear, Atonement:
I have a lot going through my head this month:
I have remembered and eulogised, recollected and ached, recalled and cried;

So many deaths, so many losses, so many fears,
so much sadness, so many tears.

Regrets are universal, as are fears but September… 

oh September we have so many of both!

9/11, Hurricanes and Super Storms, Battle of Britain, Libya,
and this year wildfires, refugees, the so-called Caliphate;
so much death, so many afraid, countless in need.

What does one do, what can one say to ease the collective pain;
especially if we have done little to help and assuage the pain and need?

How do we as human beings help each other through the Septembers?

“For the sins, we have committed under duress or willingly…

Forgive us, pardon us, and grant us atonement”

May we all be written and sealed for a good year.

Ronda R. Scott-Marak
© 22 September 2015

9^th Day of Tishrei 5776

Listen People

(with thanks to Graham Gouldman)

I do not choose my friends for their religion or politics;
but I may drop them for their intolerance or indifference.
People come in all shapes, sizes, colours, doctrines, and opinions; I take their views, compare them to my own, and if honestly felt will try to understand if not accept.

My judgement may come from different sources, different information, different cultures but my understanding is mine own and their beliefs may feel just as valid to them. I may never agree with their conclusions but as long as they've derived their opinions from honest research and not from the pleasure of ignorance I will respect their choices, but only on the condition that they respect mine.

I may try to add to their information base, attempt to give them other sources and viewpoints to consider but I will never attack them on their own ground, call them names in public, or demean them just because I disagree with their core beliefs. Anyone that does not accord me that same respect will be erased if not ignored, (unfortunately I do not ignore easily, my brain replays on auto).

I am infuriated by the mudslinging, name-calling, virulently vicious attacks made by people who disagree on some topics and don’t give themselves the opportunity to agree on others. People on opposing sides or people of conflicting opinions on the same side need to take off the blinders, take their fingers out of their ears, and learn to be silent long enough to hear.

Ronda R. Scott-Marak  
© 11 September 2015