Encountered Treasure

Not exactly a love letter but a kind email circa September of 2008 

From a sailor friend made that very year during New York’s Fleet Week

An interesting experience to meet this kind young man all dressed in white

When his skin made me think ‘lobster red’ from being out in the sun so long 

He had asked me for my newly gotten phone number and I didn’t know it just yet, but I got it right 

And he was able to call me after 

We kept in contact and during deployment we moved on to emails 

Emails for the modern penpals and I’m so happy to have found them 

Was I taken back to 2008? Not exactly 

I simply remembered talking with a great friend whom I haven’t spoken to in years 

And in that letter my friend asked me if I had found my Prince Charming…

Brining a smile to my face because I have found something so much better 

I found myself and my voice 

While the girl in 2008 wasn’t sure yet of what she wanted the woman of today is happy to be assertive 

Happy to know her value and what she brings to any place be it a relationship or her career 

The woman of today isn’t seeking approval from others but making an effort to do what’s best for her 

And along the way she fell in love with who she is inside and out 

A major message for the girl in 2008 

Not to worry because what really matters, will turn out to be great! 

Bionica

The nature of some neighbors

 I know exactly what it is about my downstairs neighbors that rubs me the wrong way 

At my neighbors petition, the new owner of the house chopped down a kind cherry tree that had been around for more than 15 years 

Every year providing robust fruit and a sweet home for my bird friends 

They also took down the grapevine that had been growing for years without bothering a soul and providing for mediterranean grape leaf wraps 

There was a fig tree that they went on to remove and one that may have been a peach tree too, I’m not too sure

There was also a larger tree that provided shade and privacy in the summer without any threat of fall whatsoever 

Once chopped down mushrooms have made their appearance as what’s left of the tree begins to rot 

They have removed bushes from the property and worst of all, they have turned the yard into a partial dump 

Now the yard has 2 way too big bbq grills that barely get used, plastic lawn chairs that have seen better days 

A glass table with an umbrella whole but no umbrella and chairs that could be done without 

They throw out so much garbage to simply sit at the side of the house with useless things like styrofoam, old printers, fake plants… 

I just can’t understand how or why they have this odd attitude towards nature that is so good and giving to us 

But I guess they get it in other ways like when the gofer eats the tomatoes they plant among the plastic containers they leave in the yard after taking out the plants to be transplanted 

Oh and my neighbor had the audacity to say that I her crops get eaten because of me when she literally let’s them rot instead of picking them when they’re ripe and ready to give away 

She’s upset that I feed the birds, the squirrel and the cat that stops by on occasion to munch on food that would otherwise be thrown away 

She doesn’t understand the struggle we experienced throwing away food that would be all over the floor after my bird friends would peck at the garbage bag trying to grab a snack 

She doesn’t consider team work with my animal friends to make things better for everyone 

Instead she thinks the gofer eats her crops because I give them snacks and not because he’s a gofer that will dig tunnels and do what he wants

A squirrel friend will occasionally leave me ‘gifts’ of partially eaten food like a tomato or avocado here and there to say ‘hey boo, I appreciate you’ and although a simple nod would do, I’m not complaining 

I guess some people are like the lion & the tin man, without a brain or a heart 

To understand that we come of the earth but the earth does not come of us 

And so it is important to work together with nature and understand that it is a true blessing 

When your trees grow and give you fruit 

That the trees are our lungs and because of them we breathe 

But they just don’t get it 

And I’m completely over it…

-Bionica

Coach P

 This time, when I went to the post office 

I was ready

My package was already in the envelope with a label on it with the address 

All I had to do was stand in line and wait my turn 

And there he was 

Coach P

I know this because the back of his white sweatshirt said Coach P— in black letters

What did I know about Coach P?

That he most likely drove in to the post office because as cold as it was

The man wasn’t wearing anything else but a sweatshirt and sweat pants 

No hat, no gloves, no scarf 

A risk taker if you ask me 

He was also very bold

Because I saw him holding the roll of tap from hand to hand 

As his exposed teeth went in for the tear 

What a guy! 

A strong one I tell you 

And one that smells really good 

Because as soon as I walked in my nostrils caught a whiff of Coach P

His cologne hugged everyone there 

Enveloping us like a hug from your crush that makes you smile inside 

Feels so nice… 

And I thought about how perhaps years ago 

I would have stolen a few looks hoping to get his attention 

But now it’s just like 

Oh, looks nice—

Back to my business 

My how things change… 

Bionica

It Takes Growth & Maturity

January just started and with all these resolutions for a new year new me

You would think that more people would have a bigger regard for the gift of life and growth 

You would think that as time goes one of the best lessons learned would be to use words

And not violence to bring forth a point 

Yet for some people it’s something that seems non-existent 

Take our American president of the moment 

Sad to say that Donald Trump, commander in chief is making moves on the 

Chess board of life without thinking 

Just moving across the board to his liking as if it were a ski mountain, forgetting that 

other people ski just the same and it would be nice if he were more careful so as not to 

Run into anyone 

But he hasn’t and he doesn’t 

This adult man is a senior citizen that doesn’t seem to have a regard for life 

His team doesn’t seem to think about what adulthood really is 

Being mature to think things through and considering the consequences of an individual’s actions

In kindergarten teachers tell children to use their words and watch what they say at the same time 

We are taught that tantrums bring us no where and neither does violence 

Really it can just give you an ulcer that never goes away and brings forth more complications 

Donald Trump is feeling like an ulcer that’s bringing forth more complications 

The only way to get rid of such is to meditate and slow down without violence 

Using words to communicate not handing out arms to scared humans were born to love 

Not risk their life because of a tantrum felt by a man in power 

A man in power that at 65+ years has so much to learn about the meaning of life 

And what it is to be a good human 

Had it been him going out to fight I’m sure his stance would have been very different 

It appears that he would never go out on a duel, for his ego is too large to even contemplate loss 

But his heart seems rather small to know love, for himself or for others… 

So grown and yet so sad 

-Bionica 

Growth

Really 

What it comes down to 

Is looking back 

And seeing how you have 

Become a better version of your previous self

Just like that

Not to critique all the faults that we all have 

But to see how you have grown 

How you have improved in ways 

That you never thought possible 

Because you never thought 

There was something to improve

Yet

All on your own 

You did it

Sounds like maturity 

And the ongoing lessons 

That life teaches us 

Ever growing 

Forever evolving

-Bionica

Loose

She tried, boy did she try
To avoid getting to that point
Where the first thought after hearing the alarm
in the morning was 'is it Friday yet'

But it happened
Perhaps certain things just
couldn't be avoided
She gave it a go and landed
The job that she thought would be her dream

You know, when you have all this child like wonder
and dreams to fulfill
walking on sunshine…

Then it changed and she searched for the sun
hidden amidst the clouds

Her job became a chore and some what of a bore
The news couldn't hold her interest
Neither could the latest celebrity gossip
She was the glue
that tried to keep the pieces together
So the train could run smoothly

But there was just one part
that couldn't stay
To the naked eye it blended well
But up close, it hung loosely
And that was her
Waiting to fall off
and get picked up by something new
But no one knew…

-Bionica

And the sun rises everyday

image

She's twenty something 

Late twenties really 

Just a little before thirty 

She's from New Jersey 

But she work's in NY 

You know, that city where dreams are made 

Or at least created 

It's like a place that holds a lot of dreams really 

That  dream of leaving everything behind 

And starting a new 

Of becoming your own self 

With out a care in the world

At least not caring what anyone else thinks anyway 

Well at twenty something 

It's kind of when you come to know 

A lot of things 

Like the fact that as everyone else is getting married

You're still single 

Yet it doesn't' bother you 

But your friends, they start to want to settle down 

They don't all want to be 'late–

for that very important date'

Ah yes, life 

That thing everyone is trying to rush 

While those that take it in stride 

Are simply called hippies

Peace-love and flower power

But why rush?

Why are you trying to become 

That adult that hates the job traveled to every day

That looks forward to the evening to forget with a  glass of wine

The person that gets into a relationship to conform–

To the pressures of society, 

Those that say you should already be married with a mortgage 

And 2.5 children–point five!

What's the point of that?

Isn't that what drives to the point of no return 

Where so many people refuse to look back and 

Just go deeper and deeper 

You know with the abuse that no one will confirm out loud

Drinking, zanax and valium here and there

Because no one wants to feel…

But really, what's so bad?

If you didn't want it

Why did you take it?

When did you lose yourself?

Is that what being an adult is really about?

Well no wonder Peter Pan never wanted to be one!

She'll just stay

Stay right where she is and keep studying 

Keep learning about what she likes 

And what's right for her

At twenty something,

She might be on to something 

The greatest moments of her life

Because she wants to feel 

She's up for the ups and downs that will come 

She's ready for them 

To learn from them and embrace from them 

Because she just refuses to be that person 

That will let everything bring her down 

She won't conform 

She's going to rebel 

Loud or silently, 

She's just going to do it

It's the only way she knows 

And maybe that's part of her magic

That fairy dust that she just can't let go of 

Dreams–because they are achievable 

Did she just say that?

Cliché right? 

Oh touché

-Bionica