Rest your eyes.
You have seen so much
humanity and pain,
happiness or joy.
The eyes strain
to take everything in.
We see what is before us,
sometimes it is not easy.
Sometimes it is not all;
sometimes it is too much.
Our vision is not always clear.
We become weary
of dealing with it all.
Rest your eyes.
Give your soul a break.
© 2019 j.g. lewis
Guns keep killing people.
I’m just putting that out there.
I am just stating the obvious.
It is simply a fact.
It’s a fact that will continue
to prove itself correct
each time
there is a shooting.
Guns kill people,
and they keep killing people.
It is a fact.
It is.
It is common knowledge.
A common occurrence;
too common an occurrence
if you ask me, but
you needn’t ask
because the facts
speak for themselves.
Guns.
Kill.
People.
They did yesterday, and
the day before, and
last weekend multiple times
in my city (more than most
weekends, more than many
cities, and a lot more times
this year). My city is really
not that different
from any other place where
there are guns and people.
Guns are everywhere.
People are everywhere.
Guns kill people.
They did yesterday in
a very noticeable way.
We will grieve the event
and question why. We will
ask questions of ourselves
and questions of our
politicians and each other.
Fact.
And we will hope, and
we will pray, but
guns
keep
killing people
anyway.
It is a fact.
It is far too obvious.
How can we change
the fact without
allowing emotions
to become involved.
Just the facts.
How do we deal with
a fact, and how can we
alter the fact that guns
kill people?
I’m just putting that out there.
Just the fact.
© 2018 j.g. lewis
It is within you.
Surpassing will, well
beyond ego, is a
power that cannot
be explained or
exemplified, though
it is always there.
Deep inside, beneath
the skin, bone, and
muscle, is a greater
force than you may
ever know; yet you
will have difficulty
determining where
it comes from.
It is there.
We can aspire to
create our dreams,
but to do so we
need to access a
deeper strength.
Set your intention.
See where you go.
© 2016 j.g. lewis
It hurts to hurt.
It hurts to see others
hurting. It hurts to know
there is so little I can do
to help others, except
try to be strong
for those I care for.
I care more.
I couldn’t care less.
It hurts to care.
If I say I try
to care for myself, it is
not meant to sound selfish;
it means I know
I must be strong
so that I can care for
those I love.
I love a lot.
I am capable of more.
It hurts to know I might
not be capable of enough.
It hurts to hurt.
© 2021 j.g.lewis
we litigate our sorrows
mediate happiness
negotiate contentment
barter wisdom for unsuspecting logic
did we stop
looking
for the trust
for the certainty
in what we know
what we carry
veiled imperfections
spiteful recollection
accepted resentment
the perseverance of inadequacies
as we keep
close
to the truth
to the familiar
to what we know
what we carry
compromised ethics
unwritten guarantees
pathetic promises
admit what you have lived through
© 2019 j.g. lewis