Mr. Problem

Mr. Problem

by Tim Reed

Some people have never seen him at all

Others grew up with him next door

Some people see him only once in a great while

Others seem to have a weekly appointment

Some people see him on the street and speed by

Others bury him in sports-cars, cigarette butts, cheap companionship, and glasses of wine

Some people spend their lives running

Others bury him in the closet or shed

Some people only see him at hotels or hospitals

Others as they pass a cross on the side of the road

Some people pretend he's a benign foe

Others elevate him to the role of Colossus

Some people visit him for a day or a week

Others for a month or a year

...and me? 

I know him very well

"How" you ask? 

He's the landlord

roommate 

and perpetual house-guest of whom I will never be free

27 Days of Poetry - Day XXVII

27 Days of Encounter

by Tim Reed

I: I will not be cliche

II: I am fused with those winged machines I love

III: Sincerity is something to fight for

IV: The present slips quickly to the past

V: Isolation and Adventure are often ambiguous

VI: I am too busy

VII: I desire a heart that seeks - even that which is already attained

VIII: I will not be a slave to the fear of the unknown

IX: I will embrace change in my life

X: In the twilight, many things are unclear

XI: I am in love with jazz and the universal language of music

XII: Many words do not imply wisdom

XIII: Adulthood is a complicating force in life

XIV: We are too focused on categorizing and mastering life

XV: Our hope for redemption from shame and fear is Christ

XVI: There is only one living truth

XVII: Exclusivity is a sticking point of my worldview - and I embrace it

XVIII: Communication is so often empty - why? 

XIX: There is more to life than self-image - true meaning is found in the other

XX: It is challenging to see "betterness" applied to diversity of culture - we complete a mosaic

XXI: Duty, responsibility, loyalty - all of these are at the core of who we are

XXII: I repent to God and my fellow man for not affirming their true personhood

XXIII: So much of life is made of what isn't

XXIV: Perhaps Ike would still be with us if he'd read this

XXV: No day is purposeless, regardless of how mundane it seems

XXVI: I will not be a slave to the tyranny of the urgent, nor paralyzed by the papers that try to rule over me

XXVII: There is true learning, beauty, pain, and wisdom in every day - no exceptions

27 Days of Poetry - Day XXVI

melt away

by Tim Reed

melt, melt away

snows upon the mountain

shabby lines and ink

drifts of notices and obligations

all your lifeless leaves - they leave me cold as ice

melt, melt away

snows upon the plain

your icy kiss of word and phrase

arctic floes of concept and response

I do not marvel at your tawdry appeal

melt, melt away

snows upon my life

endless blizzard of tickertape and bills

mountains of paper

who can survive your cold specificity?

melt, melt away

27 Days of Poetry - Day XXV

The Long Game

by Tim Reed

Repetition

Biding my time

Monotonous Rhyme

each day repeats

Each Day Repeats

EACH DAY REPEATS

The screaming whisper of the everyday deafens me

each day repeats

If life is a vapor, why am I in a fog-bank?

Each Day Repeats

The blazing dullness blinds my eyes

EACH DAY REPEATS

and yet...

This is the truth:

The Long Game

There is fire in every moment

There is purpose in every raindrop

 The multitude of now is the next step

Each Day Beautiful

27 Days of Poetry - Day XXIV

It's the Leeches!

by Tim Reed

Beware, my friends, the lachrymose leeches

Wait one hour, as Aunt Josephine preaches

If your hunger you cannot control, please avoid the beaches.

If you doubt their sense of smell

Regard the lighthouse warning-bell

Never try to outwit a leech - it never goes so well

Six rows of teeth and one razor-sharp nose

One is trapped, regardless of how fast he or she rows

Here's hoping you didn't need your fingers and toes

Murky, teeming violet waters beneath

Innumerable frenzied rows of waiting teeth

Is your last will ready to bequeath?

Beware, my friends, the lachrymose leeches

Wait one hour, as Aunt Josephine preaches

If your hunger you cannot control, please avoid the beaches.

Beware, my friends, the lachrymose leeches.

27 Days of Poetry - Day XXIII

Nots, Naughts, and Knots

by Tim Reed

It came to me that life is composed of

Nots, Naughts, and Knots.

Not enough time

Not enough Talent

Naught but trust

Naught but Love

Knots of the stomach

Knots of the Mind

Nots, Naughts, and Knots

27 Days of Poetry - Day XXII

The Formula

by Tim Reed

How I wish You were only a math problem

2 + 2 is much simpler to comprehend than a person

3 - 1 requires of me no change

5 X 5 removes all doubt and tension

But you never could, would, or will be

And I wouldn't love you if you were

 You wouldn't challenge me to change and grow

Forgive me for my subtractions, additions, divisions, and multiplications

You are not a formula

27 Days of Poetry - Day XXI

Fate

by Tim Reed

Fate is the gift.

Responsibility, the beautiful.

Duty is the privilege

Fealty, immutable.

27 Days of Poetry - Day XX

Inter Mundos

by Tim Reed

Reaching

Grasping

Touching

two worlds

One hand here

One hand there

One foot here 

One foot there

Joining

Fusing

Melding

two worlds

Beauty is here

Beauty is there

Life is here

Life is there

Bickering

Fighting

Killing

two worlds

The sea is not greater than the sky

The man is not greater than the woman

The dark is not greater than the light

The woman is not greater than the man

Learning

Growing

Maturing

two worlds

Each in its own kind

two worlds of exquisite otherness

two worlds ripped asunder

two worlds groaning for reunion

Striving

Straining

Stretching

two worlds

Ego sum inter mundos

27 Days of Poetry - Day XIX

ƨɿoɿɿiM & Windows

by Tim Reed

ƨɿoɿɿiM
ƨɘyɘ ɿuo ɘɿɒ ƨɿoɿɿiM
ƨɘvil ɿuo ɘɿɒ ƨɿoɿɿiM
ƨɘil ɘʜƚ ɘɿɒ ƨɿoɿɿiM
ymɘnɘ ɘʜƚ ɘɿɒ ƨɿoɿɿiM

Windows

Windows cleanse our eyes

Windows shape our lives

Windows show the truth

Windows are the light

27 Days of Poetry - Day XVIII

Mptnss

by Tim Reed

mptnss

why s thr sch fscntn wth tlkng?

ll th wrds r nly mptnss t my hrng

mpty lke blnk pges

mpty lke dstryd cty

mptnss

empty like so many hearts and minds

27 Days of Poetry - Day XVII

One

by Tim Reed

One

I am the only one

I am the only

I am the lonely one

I am the l(one)ly

Two are the one

They are greater than one

Three are one

Three in one

One

One unites us

One is the origin

One is the result

One is the controversy

Many things have I pondered, but none as schismatic as one

One truth (one real plan)

One me (not another)

One flesh (no 1-night stands)

One God (but 3 in number)

One Body (not many brands)

One life (will soon be over)

O      N     E

1

27 Days of Poetry - Day XVI

Verdad Que Vive

por Tim Reed

Verdad que Vive

Palabra que Dice

Luz que Brilla

Paso que Guía

En Vida, Bajado

En Muerto, Levantado

En Ascensión, Gozar

En Regreso, Ganar

Eres La Verdad que Vive

27 Days of Poetry - Day XV

The Limitation of Strength - the Strength of Limitation

by Tim Reed

Man of Shame

take my heart

by your flame 

make a start

clean the blame

Man of Tears

take my heart

destroy the fears

make a start

clean the blame

Man of Humility

take my heart

strengthen the frailty

make a start

clean the blame

Man of Truth

take my heart

 show your proof

make a start

clean the lies

Man of Patience

take my heart

teach the balance

make a start

clean my affections

Man of Strength

take my heart

show the length

show the breadth

show the depth

of your dear heart

27 Days of Poetry - Day XIV

What It Is Not

by Tim Reed

It is not lined

It is not boxed

It is not simple

It is not complex

It is not carefree

It is not careless

It is not ugly

It is not perfect

It is not nothing

It is not everything

It is not sad

It is not glad

It is not pain

It is not comfort

It is not reduced

It is not explained

It is not categorized

It is lived.

27 Days of Poetry - Day XIII

Life's Foreword

by Tim Reed

I once had a life most straightforward

Only one goal to move toward

Then adulthood began

And changed was my plan

Now all that I have is my foreword

27 Days of Poetry - Day XII

Too Much Noise

by Tim Reed

Words

So Many Words

(Motion)

(So Much Motion)

Assumptions

So Many Assumptions

(Inconclusive Conclusions)

Too Much Noise!

27 Days of Poetry - Day XI

The Jazz Collective
by Tim Reed

Sit down, little man, and join the jazz collective

This is a higher level of communication

 Hear the snap, feel the beat - suddenly you've become the rhythm

The sizzle of the ride and the resolute walk of the bass

Angular expressions of life, love, and groove ooze from the piano

A guitar-chord laced with 3's, 7's, 9's, and 13's takes hold of your heart

Feel yourself lose yourself as you join the process of something greater than yourself

Long, languid phrases prove the fusion of brass and soul

Mountains loom ahead at 220 beats-per-minute

Take a second and rest your bones in the shadowy place of the blues

See the man tell you everything you didn't know about yourself as you join the jazz

White - Black

 Man - Woman

Rich - Poor

Young - Old

 - all take the same blue color in the equalizing force of that rhythm

- all suddenly speak together the universal language of the human soul

This is the jazz collective

This is jazz

27 Days of Poetry - Day X

Twenty-nine Men

by Tim Reed

Grey snow smothers a dying earth

twenty-nine men walking

gnarled, black spectres on the ground

twenty-nine men walking

A blood-red moon dangles precariously from its perch

twenty-nine men walking

seemingly bent on sinister intent

twenty-nine men walking

weapons cling to their sides in the grey of twilight

twenty-nine men walking

the maleficent nebulous forms confuse me

twenty-nine men walking

 suddenly a light removes my confusion

twenty-nine pines resting

roots for motion, needles for weapons

twenty-nine pines resting

...but are they?

27 Days of Poetry - Day IX

Change

by Tim Reed

The mighty canyon began with a river

a river - and time

The great mountain began with a shift

a shift - and time

The greatest harvest began with a seed

a seed - and time

The great building began with a hole

a hole - and time

The great symphony began on a single sheet of paper

a sheet of paper - and time

The longest novel began with a thought

a thought - and time

The greatest of lives begins with a spark

a spark - and time

Some say that life is change

I'm beginning to agree

27 Days of Poetry - Day VIII

Almost

by Tim Reed

It seems the prime joy in life

to push past the almost

It seems also to bring great strife

to push past the almost

And so I stand here

one foot extended

tongue paralyzed with fear

one life extended

 Unjustified concern? 

I do not know

Averted dolor? 

I do not know

I am a slave to almost.

...almost

27 Days of Poetry - Day VII

 Ode to Lady Julian

by Tim Reed

Oh Great-heart! 

To know the cost of the cross

to see the divine love

to show the kindness of Christ

You said of noblest desire

"I saw Him, yet I sought Him"

You said in ultimate pursuit

"I had Him, yet I wanted Him"

You knew with perfect intimacy

the free and plenteous giving of His blood

You saw with newborn eyes

the willing suffering of our King

May my heart echo yours

 clarion of devotion sounding even to eternity

27 Days of Poetry - Day VI

Life

by Tim Reed

In just before the bell

On just before the doors close

Finished just before the need

Ready just before the job

Tired - always