Life: An Economics Problem

How does one solve the God-given problems
of illness, old age, disability, and poverty?

These are for us to become who we were supposed to become,
and to learn to love the way we were meant to love.

These are designed to stop us in our pointless pursuits,
and engineered to point us in another more meaningful direction. 

These are not problems to be solved or overcome,
but they are the lessons that lead us to an understanding of the problem.

These bring us to life's edge where we strain to peer in to the other side,
and they allow us to look back at life from a better vantage point.

These are not life's obstacles;
They are its very essence.

My Path in Fall

Those beautiful
yellows and browns
obscure the path
beneath my rounds.

But  you, path, are still
mine, and as such
unchanged you are
where my feet touch.

Changing colors
precede decay
and then, their shield
is blown away,

revealing what
I knew at birth;
and as I aged
I'd learned your worth.

Peace

May I never sing
with the chorus of the shrill,
or blend my voice
with the angry throng,
or lend my name
to those that mock.

What pretended nobility
enlists such to its cause?
What imagined virtue
requires its volume?
And what manner of justice
can endure its presence?

Katherine (for Stefany)

Those toes, but stubs of pinkish tone,
poke out of the blanket’s grasp,
and though wanting for a warmer home,
are too beautiful to wrap.

And fairer hair I have not seen,
than the threads that grace my child;
what once was parted, tied and bowed,
now rests both free and wild.

Gazing on those sleepy eyes,
the smiling cheeks, pursed lips, pinched nose,
I trace the lines and memorize
Dear Kate before she grows.

For Our Sake

Seeing man's inconsistency,  

of wisdom, wealth, and strength,
we ought to learn that these do not,
can not a savior make.

"You can not tell me what to do",
we shriek, then lovingly
Our God replies, "No, I will not,
but grace I offer thee."

Professor, Confessor, Parent and Pastor

That one we called oppressor 

We learn again, as childhood ends

was really our protector.

The Downhill Path

The downhill path

offers no resistance,

spurs velocity,

promises access.

But,
exalted views are lost, 

speed destabilizes the actor,

and freedoms give way to entropy.

Counselor

Do you wish to alter me?
Is my sincerity in question?
Are you uncomfortable with who I am?

Would it be better for you if I were different?

If my happiness is the object of your change,
if my freedom is your motivation
and my excellence is your ultimate design,

Now you may teach me.

What did you see?

Just paces from the highway

a new life pushes free, while a freed life decays.

One leaps forth from provident roots,

as another submits to the earth.

Who knows, who sees, who cares or dreams?

Driver or passenger, tasked or untaxed?

Only we who doubt the finality of race's end,

and choose instead to seek the vision of the seers.