Delightfully WILD

Delightfully Wild

I was tamed

From being wild

When I was just a mere child.

I was framed

Into a box

Labeled, Good Boy.
I was not so much a boy,

As a trophy to be displayed.

And even when I played,

I had to look presentable,

With clean clothes,

And polished shoes,

That I dare not lose

When I played in the dirt.
I was tamed with a belt

That would leave a welt

But not as deep

As the curse of shame

That forced me to cast blame

Upon my very own self.
But when I got down

On my hands and knees,

Mother Earth would whisper,

“Do as you please,
Run and shout,

All about,

Without care or worry.

And please don’t hurry

As you explore the wonder

That is ME,

Beneath your feet.

Disregard what you think,

Those others might think,

When you are happy and wild,

Radiating the joy of your inner child,

That refuses to be meek and mild,

When there is dancing to be done.

Don’t always behave.

Or you’ll become a slave

To the disparaging thoughts of others.

Being naughty, from time to time,

Will save your sanity,

With a little self-indulgent vanity,

That makes your smile beautiful.
Please try to remember

That you are Mother Earth’s child,

Created to be joy filled and

Delightfully WILD.

Play In The Dirt

Play In The Dirt

We had no indoor toilet,

No gas or electric heat

When I was a little boy.

We used the outhouse

Far away in the back,

And had to be wary

Of the giant rooster

Who did attack me

On more than one occasion.

We brought in wood

To fire the stoves

To cook our meals.

To warm the house

And make it smell good.

I played in the dirt

With marbles and sticks.

I carved out roads and trails

For imaginary horses.

The rain made mud

For towers and castles.

Back then, my life had

Very few hassles.

When I was in high school.

I learned to use a slide rule

And write letters on a typewriter

I got my first calculator

When I went to college

And I wrote the calculations

Down on paper

To make sure the calculator

Calculated the answer correctly.

A 7 by 7 inch green

Tiny little monitor screen

Did not display computer graphics.

It only showed light green

Fortran characters on

the university super computer.

I spent hours plunking and plunking

The keyboard characters,

While I created a 3D grid in my head,

And prayed that my code was correct.

I still know how to write in cursive

Although it is not very pretty.

Today I slide my finger

Over the letters on my cell phone

To create a message

That could reach the other side of the planet

At the blink of an eye.

I worry sometimes that

Not all electronic inventions

Are improvements.

We risk losing "touch"

With all things tactile.

Losing our ability to be sensual

With each and every tap

On our cell phone.

We become numb

To the energetic vibrations

Of our own bodies,

Of our surroundings,

Of our very own breath.

We need to play in the dirt,

Splash in the rain,

Stomp in the mud,

And chop wood

For a warm fire

from time to time,

Lest we forget

that we are human.