Tag: navelgazing

Before We Burnout

We are tired.

Tired of hearing about another mass shooting.
Tired of seeing that list grow and grow and grow.
Tired of our children going through school shooting drills.
Tired of it being necessary to explain school shootings at all.
Tired of America putting all of that on our teachers’ shoulders.
Tired of this being a uniquely American problem….

                                           Before We Burnout

We are tired.

Tired of hearing about another mass shooting.
Tired of seeing that list grow and grow and grow.
Tired of our children going through school shooting drills.
Tired of it being necessary to explain school shootings at all.
Tired of America putting all of that on our teachers’ shoulders. 
Tired of this being a uniquely American problem. 
Tired of the politicians offering platitudes and not policies.
Tired of their solutions to arm and armor up.
Tired of the solutions to symptoms and not to sickness. 
Tired of no one doing anything to address our mental health crisis.
Tired of no one doing anything about our escalating gun violence.
Tired of no one doing anything about better social safety nets.
Tired of screaming all of this into the void. 
Tired of the void only blinking back. 
Tired of all the gun worship.
Tired of lobbyists having more pull than piles of dead bodies.
Tired of politicians not standing up and standing out. 
Tired of all their promises that forever fizzle out. 
Tired of all the people who will not give an inch, for fear of the mile. 
Tired of wondering when the next shooting will happen.
Tired of waiting and waiting for that shoe to drop. 
Tired of fearing our loved ones will be there when it does. 
Tired of the whole absurd tragedy, being played out, again and again and again.


We should be angry. 

Angry over all the lives lost. 

Angry over nothing ever being done

Angry for the whole absurd tragedy, being played out, again and again and again.
We need to be angry.

Angry all the way to the polls.

05/26/22
M. L. Michael

About…

“One Must Imagine Sisyphus Happy”

The bolder comes to a rolling stop,
and just like that, you’re back at the bottom,
back to peering up at a summit lost in the clouds.
There’s exhaustion in every muscle,

in every bone, and in every thought.
And there’s the weight of the bolder,
the weight of the journey,

and the weight of being,
all working against you,
all begging you to quit. ..

“One Must Imagine Sisyphus Happy”
-Albert Camus

The bolder comes to a rolling stop,
and just like that, you’re back at the bottom,
back to peering up at a summit lost in the clouds.
There’s exhaustion in every muscle, 
in every bone, and in every thought.
And there’s the weight of the bolder,
the weight of the journey, 
and the weight of being,
all working against you,
all begging you to quit. 

But quitting isn’t an option 
when here now is your all,
and quitting seems foolish,
when you know what’s ahead:
a moment of serenity above the clouds,
a moment to stop and breath
and enjoy the view.  

You know it's the first push that’s the hardest, 
because the bolder feels like an immoveable object,
but you know you’re an unstoppable force,
one that’s pushed this bolder up innumerable times.

That second push is always lighter, 
maybe a fraction of a percent lighter,
but it’s enough to build momentum,  
it's enough to make it to the summit.


03/12/22
M. L. Michael

About…

Spacing Out

There is a scene in some space movies,
where someone becomes suddenly untethered,
broken off from the station,

they are adrift and abandoned.
now cue the suspenseful music,
as they drift off and off and off…
Those scenes scare me the most.

Because I remember my own scenes,
when suddenly I have become untethered,
disconnected from the moment,
unable to hold on to anything.
so cue me retreating within,
as I drift off and off and off…

Spacing Out


There is a scene in some space movies,
where someone becomes suddenly untethered,
broken off from the station, 
they are adrift and abandoned.
now cue the suspenseful music, 
as they drift off and off and off...

Those scenes scare me the most.

Because I remember my own scenes,
when suddenly I have become untethered,
disconnected from the moment, 
unable to hold on to anything.
so cue me retreating within,
as I drift off and off and off…

02/06/2022
M. L. Michael

About…

(Random Access) Memory

It’s like…
I’m in the middle of nothing,
trying to draw from the absence of everything.

Until,

these little sprites blink into view,
fireflies that spotlight my past with their flash,
and shine a light on what I thought was lost.

Still,
their flash betrays an exit,
as each firefly blinks off into nothing,
forgotten
once again. 

(Random Access) Memory


It’s like…
I’m in the middle of nothing, 
trying to draw from the absence of everything.

Until, 
these little sprites blink into view,
fireflies that spotlight my past with their flash,
and shine a light on what I thought was lost.

Still,
their flash betrays an exit, 
as each firefly blinks off into nothing,
forgotten 
once again. 

01/17/22
M. L. Michael

About…

Still Waters

Still waters make me uneasy.

The sheer uniformity of the undisturbed
makes for a terrible mirror to gaze into.
Instead, I want to toss a stone in
and break the tension.
I want to send ripples out,
I want to toss in scattered handfuls,
and watch ripples break across ripples.

Still waters become alive.

Still Waters

Still waters make me uneasy. 

The sheer uniformity of the undisturbed
makes for a terrible mirror to gaze into. 
Instead, I want to toss a stone in
and break the tension. 
I want to send ripples out, 
I want to toss in scattered handfuls,
and watch ripples break across ripples.

Still waters become alive.  

01/05/2022
M. L. Michael

About…

Entanglement

Entangled,
Existing in two places at once,
One adorned in brights,
One draped in bleaks,
Seemingly incompatible,
Somehow functionable,
At once runneth over,
At once bone dry,
Number One,
Number Zero,
Not quite here,
Not quite there,
Entangled.

Entangled,
Existing in two places at once,
One adorned in brights, 
One draped in bleaks,
Seemingly incompatible,
Somehow functionable, 
At once runneth over, 
At once bone dry, 
Number One,
Number Zero,
Not quite here,
Not quite there,
Entangled.

M. L. Michael
12/27/21

About…

Chasing Fireflies(Nostalgia)

I used to chase fireflies…
back when I was a kid, back in the sticks,
we had fireflies floating from dusk till dawn,
twinkling in and out like little stars,

(I wish I may, I wish I might,
catch this firefly tonight,)[…]

Chasing Fireflies(Nostalgia)

I used to chase fireflies…
back when I was a kid, back in the sticks,
we had fireflies floating from dusk till dawn,
twinkling in and out like little stars,

(I wish I may, I wish I might,
catch this firefly tonight,)

I remember they would suddenly blink *on*,
outside, here and there, these real life fairies
had come to be and dared me to chase them,
to catch them in my clasped hands. 

I would hold them there, 
feel them fluttering, and feeling more alive
with each passing second, until I open my hands
and watch them blink out of my grasp and my life.

(I wish I may, I wish I might,
catch this firefly tonight,)

…I can’t remember the last time I saw a firefly…
maybe too many were caught and never let go,
or maybe too many of us left our lights always on, 
and left no darkness for the fireflies to roam…

(…I wish I may, I wish I might,
chase one firefly tonight…)

-M. L. Michael
06/10/2021.





About…

Reasons to Keep a Journal (Or – How a Journal Becomes a One Way DeLorean)

Whenever I scroll through past pages, flipping backwards in time with each page,
I can see my past play out – fast reversed – until I stop at a point, on a page,

and read where I was at in that moment, at that time, on that page.

From there I march forward, page by page, reading my past thoughts,

reliving my past with my knowledge of the future,

knowing what is coming, but being unable to do anything about it,
seeing my hubris set me up, and then reality teeing me off. […]

Reasons to Keep a Journal 
(Or – How a Journal Becomes a One Way DeLorean)

Whenever I scroll through past pages, flipping backwards in time with each page, 
I can see my past play out – fast reversed – until I stop at a point, on a page, 
and read where I was at in that moment, at that time, on that page. 

From there I march forward, page by page, reading my past thoughts, 
reliving my past with my knowledge of the future, 
knowing what is coming, but being unable to do anything about it, 
seeing my hubris set me up, and then reality teeing me off. 

Humility comes with each step and each page forward, 
witnessing every success and failure, every love and loss, 
with me barreling through it, forever unawares 
of the futures and the unknowns… 

05/30/2021? 
M. L. Michael

About…

Eternity (in a touch)

I felt eternity in your touch.

When our eyes locked and our skin touched,
I felt eternity stretching between us, before us, behind us,
I felt a grounding to this moment and an awareness of all others,

In that touch, the past is vibrant, passionate,
in that touch the future is defiant, frenetic,

In that touch, in this poem, we now resonate
in eternity.

Eternity (in a touch)

I felt eternity in your touch.

When our eyes locked and our skin touched,
I felt eternity stretching between us, before us, behind us,
I felt a grounding to this moment and an awareness of all others,

In that touch, the past is vibrant, passionate,
in that touch the future is defiant, frenetic,

In that touch, in this poem, we now resonate
in eternity.

05/25/2021
M. L. Michael

About…

Pics or it didn’t happen

“If you didn’t share it on social media, did it even happen?”
Well…
It did…until it suddenly didn’t.
With no place to hold on to in my mind, that moment floats around, forever adrift,
With nothing to anchor it down it cannot be found with any sense of reliability.
My only hope is to come across it again sometime …like ships in the night. […]

“Pics or it didn’t happen”

“If you didn’t share it on social media, did it even happen?”
Well…
It did…until it suddenly didn’t. 
With no place to hold on to in my mind, that moment floats around, forever adrift, 
With nothing to anchor it down it cannot be found with any sense of reliability. 
My only hope is to come across it again sometime …like ships in the night.

…So many memories remain forever adrift. 
I’ve never come across them, and I seemingly never will. 
Did these memories even happen? 
They did….until they suddenly didn’t. 
They happened in that moment. 
I felt them then. 
And then… that’s it… 

A single point in space/time. 
Never again to be revisited. 

…unless I talk about it on social media, and revisit it on my timeline…

05/13/2021
M. L. Michael

About…