PostPoems Be Artistic. Be Creative. Be Inspired!

It’s been many many years since my grandpa passed away….

years since his sweet smile and sage advice reached me…

but whenever I pick up a pencil

I remember one lesson he tried to teach me…

Grandpa was old-school…he’d say,

“You should always carry a pencil wherever you may go…

because a pencil will help remind you of four things you need to know.”

Grandpa loved learning…loved wisdom…and on this subject he would harp…

He’d say, “You need to keep learning every day

because your mind, like this pencil, works best when it is sharp.”

He’d point to the eraser saying, 

“Everybody makes mistakes…when you do…stand up tall and meet them….

learn from each mistake…and try not to repeat them.”

With the pencil in his hand and his fingers around it lovingly curled….

He’d say, “Always do your best to leave a kind and gentle mark upon the world.”

Then holding the pencil up he’d say, 

“When you view others always take into account….

Just like this pencil…whatever the outside looks like…it’s what’s inside that counts.”

And though he’s been gone for many years whenever I think about him I can see

the impact he made upon my life….the mark he left on me. 

I like how he was always trying to teach me…

keeping me as he liked to say…’up to speed’.

and how when I want to think about him…

a pencil is all I need.

As you know by now…if you read my poems from time to time

when it comes to putting my thoughts and words together…

I am partial to the rhyme.

(It’s how I start my day)

But today’s blessing does not rhyme…and I hope you think I’m right

when I say Lao Tzu’s wisdom and his prose are more beautiful… 

than any poem that I could write:

)And still appropriate today)

In dwelling…live close to the ground.

In thinking…keep it simple.

In conflict…be fair and generous.

In governing…don’t try to control.

In work…do what you enjoy.

In family…be completely present.

 Today I’m thankful for wisdom 

And for I yield to the wisdom of two brains…

Mary Catherine Bateson (Margaret mead’s daughter)

And, who else, but Mark Twain….

Mary Catherine Bateson said, realizing wisdom must be earned 

“We are not what we know but what we are willing to learn.”

And I remember Mark Twain’s words

whenever I think I know all the things I need to know:

‘It’s not what we know that gets us in trouble

It’s what we know for sure…that just aint so.

Today I’m thankful for the wisdom of our elders…

We should thank them ever day…

while remembering:

their wisdom does us no good

unless we heed the words they say.