Living Well

Trying to live up to

what each day brings me

trying to live up to

each standard others have of me

trying to live up to

the love that others have for me

trying to live up to

the dreams that I hope can be.

 

I have got to keep

my heart’s desire burning

I cannot stop

I have got to keep my world turning

so I am not wiped out

by any firestorm churning

my mind must stay freshly

opened to new learning.

 

Let me run

let me dance

do not hold me back

let me advance

keep me clear of what is toxic

keep me focused in a trance

keep my steady

keep me ready

for every possible chance

so that when a time is right

I am not caught

without my pants.

 

Let me never stop loving

to move this body

God gave me

let positive energy

enrich me

save me

so that goodness

around me

can desire

and crave me.

 

~Miguel

La Bandera

Sun’s Offering

Sunshine always offers

promise for a day having

started so early with

somewhere to go and

so much to do.

 

Sunshine always offers

promise for a life surrounded

by the stresses and issues

set forth by the inflictions

of repelling forces.

 

Sunshine always offers

promise for anyone trying

their best to make ends

meet toward developing the

prospect of a better future.

 

Sunshine always offers

promise for the displaced

family having to find

solace and shelter in the

abandoned four floor house.

 

Sunshine always offers

promise for a city where

gun violence is on the

rise and law enforcement is

pleading for it to stop.

 

Sunshine always offers

promise that despite the

challenges of everyday

everything will eventually

work out ok.

 

~Miguel   

Spring Forth The Arts!

A springtime to bring

out the best in each

student, the best in

each program and to

show examples of development

through effort and hard work.

 

My son and my

daughters in bands in

orchestras, in dance

ensembles showing their

progress in spring

recitals of excellence.

 

My collegiate classmates

my present co-workers

bring their students to

a level of achievement and

a level of pride in

all they experience.

 

Art exhibits accompanying

concerts, in the

school hallways and

cafeterias, show a

beauty of the visual

student expressive achievement.

 

Dance instructors showing

the product on stage

they have been developing

all year to put forth

from every student of

every level of movement.

 

My own students making

musical sounds that

not long ago were not as

nice as they are now in

 order to get ready for

one more festival trip.

 

~Miguel

 

 

Dancing Our Way Through

A stage of dancers

filled with lights

steps and motions

pre-rehearsed

for many hours

for many nights

hair and makeup

altering appearances

adding a glaze

to the visual sights.

 

Life can be like this

people you meet only staging

hiding their true selves

behind an alteration

behind a glaze

not truly engaging

dressing their lives

in costume and glitter

expecting you to accept

their staged dance

their staged performance

as if you needed a babysitter.

 

As you try to

dance through

every day

trough every happy time

through every hard way

remember to be

true

on every move

on every cue

to every person

who cares to view

how you truly feel

not just piece meal

to them be real

to them be YOU

before the curtain comes down

and your dance

is through.

~Miguel

Exploring Fate

 Crossing an old abandoned field

a field of weeds still thriving

while choking off

the last grass

once planted between the buildings.

 

This field covered with abandoned things

abandoned tires

abandoned cars

abandoned televisions

screens long smashed

abandoned memories

abandoned hopes

abandoned dreams long dashed.

 

Walking carefully not to get cut

after many steps

I came to its end

having gingerly avoided

many shards of glass

of shattered wishes

never granted.

 

Across the way another field

this one vibrant with

floral beauty

this one vibrant with vegetation

I enter joyfully without hesitation.

 

Each flowering plant bright and beautiful

grasses full from end to end

of this field

of life’s great wonders

each blossom representing

each beautiful friend.

 

~Miguel

We Need To Get Real!

Books are falling

falling from grace

as words are falling

from time and

from place

decreasing

in value

degrading

in face

losing credibility at

an increasing pace.

 

Words alone

lack expression

text with

no feeling

brings on

depression

a person’s

whole self

perpetuates

progression

away from shallow

empty confession.

 

Do not let “the dramatists”

get you down

like drops

on a grey day

falling to the ground

do not let them

make you up

like a sad

forgotten clown

erasing your smile

then drawing a frown.

 

We have forged a world

that cares not

about feelings

so many forget

we are only human beings

not crazy robots

that lack emotion

to family to friends

we try to give devotion

only to be cut off

by self centered commotion.

 

Do not let them forget

that you know how to FEEL

do not let them waste you

like a stale Happy Meal

if they should

hurt you

IT IS A BIG DEAL

DO NOT LET THEM TREAT YOU

ANY WAY BUT

REAL!!

~Miguel

A Heartfelt Quest

A star shining bright in

the distance

in the distance against

at tree covered mountainside

as I awake to journey

in haste to that mountain

to capture that star

holding close to my heart.

 

As I swiftly approach

the starlight

the starlight against

that great mountainside

the star that was once high

now begins to fall while

taking over the trail before me

is a mist through which I traverse.

 

No at the end of

the trail

the trail upon which

I faithfully walked

in place of the light is

now a diamond

which into my hand

I hold close to my heart.

 

The diamond in my hand

begins to glow

a glow sending light to

every tree in my sight

illuminating the sea below

I strip down then dive to

those waters that flow so

gentle they touch me and caress my heart.

~Miguel

Future

Future is a short word

but also a BIG word

a complex word

and unsettled word

a crazier word

than most

ever heard.

 

Can we REALLY plan our future

like the finance sector

wants us to

can we really draw a map

of what

in time

we can aspire to?

 

Yes we can hope

yes we can dream

yes we can brainstorm

those are true

but in today’s

world unstable

can we REALLY plan out

what will happen

can we really

CLEARLY

see it through?

 

One day

we have a job

the next day

we do not have it

one day

we have a savings

then the falling markets

GRAB IT

prices only seem to rise

like the start

of a BAD HABIT

for every person

with a goal

there is another

WHO WILL STAB IT!

 

One day

our world is stable

the next day

a major earthquake

not just in one region

but taking up

a whole ocean

giving off the worried notion

that tsunamis may arise

to wipe out

our forward motion.

 

One day

there is a midwest town

overnight

a tornado

comes to knock it down

meanwhile

state leaders

think they know what is best

by making students only learn

what is on their test.

 

Is the future

worth our dreaming

worth our planning

worth our hoping

we have to have SOMETHING

not so depressing

to keep our minds from

endlessly stressing

negatively obsessing

or perpetually moping.

~Miguel

Times Of Love Forgotten

When things are tense

on the job

on the chore

on the scene

of traffic

of crowds

of movement

of motion

we practice hard

we try hard

to keep our cool

to keep relaxed

to keep focused

that everything

will work out

for the best.

 

If only we could execute

the same positive practice

if only we could project

the same positive vibe

when events that we attend

are not so meant

to be so intense

to be so negative

at these events

so many forget the positive

instead they bring the negative

to times of love

times of togetherness

even times of joy.

 

To our lunch hour rush

when so many around us

are rushing at the same time

we bring serenity

patience

and manners

while we wait in line

but to a wedding

to a funeral

to a holiday gathering

we instead

bring drama

assumption

high expectation

attitude

not gratitude

and contrived accusation.

 

Luckily

it is not

everyone

at every

family affair

who bring down

every room

with their

self-infused dispair

those who bring happiness

we need to mirror

to their light

we must

compare.

~Miguel