From Step Mothers Love

The truth will set you free,
Says the idealist young man,
Trapped inside the mind of the ancients,
A dichotomy,
Only half visible,
That one so young,
Could exist so old,
In a common vernacular,
Which reveals in itself,
As bargaining for peace of mind.

SDM

Yours; True Beauty

Your true beauty runs through my being, every moment of every day,
That stark, strong and scintillating beauty that lurks just underneath your skin.
Your beauty, a soul which consistently magnifies virtue,
Calling to attention all the great traits of humanity;
The purity of truth, reflected in your eyes,
The power of integrity caught wonderfully in your smile,
The strength of conviction and drive captured in your every movement.
Your true beauty is a wonderful gift that I unwrap each day,
Delighting in the many blessings so clearly afforded me;
Thank you for your patience,
Your kindness,
Your compassion,
Your intelligence,
Your wit and grace –
Thank you,
For your love and the true beauty it reveals.

I love you!

SDM

Truth

Good Afternoon my Loyal Readers...

It is a sunny Toronto afternoon, bitterly cold as befits this wintery day. It is trying to snow but so far to no avail though the areas to the North have been pounded so can it really be that far off.

I've realized something about myself in the past few weeks. It is a difficult reckoning but one that I came to through self searching and honesty. I have been a bad person for the last year or so. Sure outwardly I have appeared moderately the same (a mask) but inside I was seething. I knew that I was not doing what I should be doing and as a result it was spilling over into every aspect of my life.

I have been reading much in the past few weeks. Spending time with myself and looking inward. I have finally found a career (not a job) which I have known I would get involved in for a very long time and am taking the steps necessary to ensure that I have continued success. This realization has filled me once again with boundless energy and enthusiasm and I have a true smile on my face and in my soul. It is radiating to everyone that knows me and indeed the world at large.

For all of you that have been around me during this difficult time I apologize for my ugliness. For my lack of purpose. For my lack of self worth which manifested itself in very ugly ways. However, I assure you those days are long gone. I have picked myself up (with the help of those closest to me) and I am ready to take on any challenge which comes my way with the same grace and beauty that I do my new life in the Kitchen! Yes Chef!

I can only say thank you to those of you who gave me a push in the direction that I am going. Both in terms of my career and my own personal development. I now wake up every day and say to myself; "How can I became a better man, a better human!" And I seek that answer by living a truthful and honest life.

Stay tuned as the next few years (and the rest of my life) are going to be a wild ride of continued personal growth, professional success and ultimately a lifetime of happiness. I remember one time my shrink told me a story about a Nordic tribe which I will now share with you.

This tribe lives its lives just like us. Save not in cities or with the same speed that we North Americans do. They have two jars in their homes which they fill with stones their entire lives. White ones representing good memories and black ones (volcanic rock) representing bad ones. They live their lives with the fervent desire to have just one more white than black. That is the definition of a successful life for them.

Well for me, for the first time in my life, I have one more white than black. I can see the light at the beginning of the tunnel and will continue to add white and black with the hope that at the end I can say to my family, friends and the world at large that I have lead a successful life. And that I have way more white than black. It truly is an attitude adjustment that cn only come with searching inwardly.

I hope you all have an inspired day!

SDM

Truth

Good Afternoon my Loyal Readers...

It is a sunny Toronto afternoon, bitterly cold as befits this wintery day. It is trying to snow but so far to no avail though the areas to the North have been pounded so can it really be that far off.

I've realized something about myself in the past few weeks. It is a difficult reckoning but one that I came to through self searching and honesty. I have been a bad person for the last year or so. Sure outwardly I have appeared moderately the same (a mask) but inside I was seething. I knew that I was not doing what I should be doing and as a result it was spilling over into every aspect of my life.

I have been reading much in the past few weeks. Spending time with myself and looking inward. I have finally found a career (not a job) which I have known I would get involved in for a very long time and am taking the steps necessary to ensure that I have continued success. This realization has filled me once again with boundless energy and enthusiasm and I have a true smile on my face and in my soul. It is radiating to everyone that knows me and indeed the world at large.

For all of you that have been around me during this difficult time I apologize for my ugliness. For my lack of purpose. For my lack of self worth which manifested itself in very ugly ways. However, I assure you those days are long gone. I have picked myself up (with the help of those closest to me) and I am ready to take on any challenge which comes my way with the same grace and beauty that I do my new life in the Kitchen! Yes Chef!

I can only say thank you to those of you who gave me a push in the direction that I am going. Both in terms of my career and my own personal development. I now wake up every day and say to myself; "How can I became a better man, a better human!" And I seek that answer by living a truthful and honest life.

Stay tuned as the next few years (and the rest of my life) are going to be a wild ride of continued personal growth, professional success and ultimately a lifetime of happiness. I remember one time my shrink told me a story about a Nordic tribe which I will now share with you.

This tribe lives its lives just like us. Save not in cities or with the same speed that we North Americans do. They have two jars in their homes which they fill with stones their entire lives. White ones representing good memories and black ones (volcanic rock) representing bad ones. They live their lives with the fervent desire to have just one more white than black. That is the definition of a successful life for them.

Well for me, for the first time in my life, I have one more white than black. I can see the light at the beginning of the tunnel and will continue to add white and black with the hope that at the end I can say to my family, friends and the world at large that I have lead a successful life. And that I have way more white than black. It truly is an attitude adjustment that cn only come with searching inwardly.

I hope you all have an inspired day!

SDM

The March...

Do you hear the drum beating loudly on the screen of our TV’s?
Just as they have before, well, sort of, and as they surely will again.
The pervasive beat of one mans cadence, in a two man stand off.
To be sure, more is at stake than just the lives of Bush and Saddam,
they are not facing off in a boxing ring, no matter how much we’d prefer it.

Stand up and be counted, though both sides will discount it –
This beat getting stronger needs the healing power of peace
before this becomes something longer.
Can you hear the beat as sure as that of your heart?
Place your hand there, feel it, I assure you, an Iraqi’s beats the same,
he bleeds too, blood, not oil,
though sometimes our leaders make it seem that way.
Behind the scorching rhetoric of this economic war machine –
How many will die?
How many will die?

The beat goes on, as the expression states,
I can hear it, feel it at the very core of my being,
my retinas permanently damaged by the rape of the planet,
of each and every one of us by mad men –
Smoke billowing into the sky like skid marks, devastating,
carried away to return as God’s tears,
what goes up must and will come down.
Where do we go from here?
Where does this beat take us,
Where will we all be?
Will we again see the night sky lit up? –
Stars drowned out by mans fire flies,
trying to take down the screaming eagles, an ominous sight –
Day at night –
Who really wins?
Who has nothing to lose?
How do you know what to believe when greed so often dictates,
unopposed,
what truth is?

How many times,
how many must we plot this course?
How long before we realize the road less traveled while difficult
has a lot less dead bodies strewn across it.
That road,
a path to peace through dialogue.

SDM

KIA

The newswoman speaks of today’s reports with a matter of factness that seems to suggest absolute awareness. Yet I wonder if the talking head can decipher the truth of our current state through the supposed objective reporting she duteously relays. I wonder if her mind, like mine, draws the obvious parallels between a suicide bombing report with five American soldiers dying in Iraq and the guerilla tactics which so ravaged the American war machine in full splendor in Vietnam. Obvious! Yet, how many are willing and able to draw that conclusion? At the beginning of Gulf War II, as is common of our western world, our arrogance, save that, the arrogance of the Coalition of the Willing, caused widespread belief that this war was going to be a cake walk. That all Iraqi’s would just roll over and play dead –

Tell that to the families of the roughly 55 killed in action this week.

SDM

Update Since I wrote this more than 3100 more soldiers have died and approximately 100 - 150,000 Iraqi's.

Truth and Poison

I feel the truth like poison seeping into our water table.
From the ground water we drink this tainted reality as half truths from the past are coming back to take their final due and there can be no escape.
These half lies, half truth, have served to stunt our collective consciousness lulling us into a very false sense of security.
It has weaved its way into our every day brought to us by those that seek to fatten their pockets not enrich the global brother and sisterhood.

I feel the truth, at least half, like arsenic, slowly stunting my nervous system until I am numb and desensitized so that when 100% truth is given (which is rare) I am somehow more ready to deal with it.

I’d like my truth like I like my water;

Fresh, clean and the source of life’s affirmations.

SDM

Heaven's Gift

With visions of tomorrow,
Dancing in our heads,
Its reality today,
That sets our souls ablaze,
Loves consistent and steady hand,
Firming its hold on our hearts,
As this truth, our love, tickles our memories,
In high esteem,
Each day will fade,
Bringing us another to experience and enjoy,
Brought together by God,
Reaffirming faith,
Believing in all that’s real,
Kiss me once,
Again and again,
Mounting a story for ages told,
As each day we live and learn,
Watching this beautiful gift,
Blossom and unfold,
Hold my hand,
While we take this stand,
Indeed our last hurrah,
For in you I know,
All I need to know,
And believe me that is much,
I hunger more,
And crave for sure,
Your love from heaven sent.

SDM

You(My 31)

If only we could see each other from the perspective of the other,
oh that you would see the very picture and personification of love
contained in the view that is your inner shine and your outer radiance.
From within your soul commands the greatest attention as it emanates, fresh:
Imagine the taste of strawberries,
the smell of freshly cut grass,
the look of a French masterpiece
and the feel of love as understood by a child:
This is the impact of your souls amazing shine.
One might think that this is enough to explain
yet this is merely a scratching of the inner surface
while the exterior also delights and intoxicates.
From the tip of your gorgeous toes
to the ends of your magically blonde hair,
a new picture of a package rare emerges.
As Doisneau captured lovers in the city of lights
with the feel of love caught in single images,
yours is much more than a thousand words,
with the richness of chocolate, milky,
the elegance of truffles,
and the rarity of Fugu.
Your beauty is the realization of every artists desire.
Van Gogh had sunflowers and starry nights,
da Vinci his Mona Lisa,
the Group of Seven the gracious Canadian landscape
and Fellini his films,
But I know a joy they never did –
For I know love as truth, innocence, beauty and light –
Charmaine,
a muse like none other and these words are but an attempt to seize the essence
that I am fortunate enough to know –
Love,
perfectly imperfect,
by divine design,
I know you and now my life,
Shines,
As you!

Dropping the Other shoe

The other shoe has to drop, but it seems maybe an end is in sight, the plight of those in the Middle East, some looking for a homeland, all concerned with peace. Yet, are they really? Its often said that actions speak louder than words and all I can hear is the consistent ringing of my ears from the continuing bombardment perpetrated by fanatics, not just of the religious persuasion either. I can see terror lashing out at the soul while ravaging the body, blood stained streets, cleaned by the same street sweepers that clean the streets that I walk. Morosely confronted by the thought of what cleaning solution, what mixture removes blood from cement, or brick and curious as to whether that same solution can cleanse the soul?

In that same region, home to the birthplace of three religions, the cradle of civilization, the attention of the global nation is transfixed by what might happen next. We stand on guard like idiot savants watching the news mistaking sounds bites for truth! Truth?

Whose truth and at whose expense? Where great kings and queens used to come together, where once great empires stood, hanging gardens and entire civilizations knowledge weighed heavily on the hearts and minds of men who had to balance their desire for power with the will of invading armies. Armies whose appetite for destruction included turning back the hands of time by pilfering, then looting, then burning and destroying this history, tradition and cultural awareness to replace it with, well, their own and where the people would not go willingly, or quiet enough for the powers that be, THEY were eradicated, simply wiped from the face of the earth.

Times have changed indeed, or have they?

People in search of a homeland, people in search of self, people in search of meaning and people in search of wealth. Oh sure, times have changed, but PEOPLE remain the SAME, playing still an age old game. It is as old as time and still people in search of illusive truth justify the quelling of the sprit of youth.

For with the innocence of youth the spirit can feel searching for answers that somehow is real and here I am. Contemplating far off lands and the wishes of men with best laid plans. Like pipe lines and oil for societies rich yet entirely poor I think that’s why we still know war.

Like lions and tigers and bears we fight for riches without despair. With nary a care for our time and space we’re confronted by images surely in poor taste, ours! With all the elegance and class that money can buy we drive our vehicles while people do die.

At our expense and in our place the other shoe now falls and I wonder is any are aware at all. We’re killing ourselves one barrel at a time, drunk on oil as if it were wine. Deposing tyrants where once civilizations story was told, where aqueducts and math, the science of thought and religion did unfold.

Not today, nor tomorrow or yesterdays sorrow unchain us from our past and the revolution coming most surely must last. Go get your oil and effect regime change but realize this its us and our basic instinct that remains the same.

SDM