Self Reflection Poems

On the Occasion Of My Sixtieth Birthday

I once tried to change the world

When I was a radical youth

Oh, the accusations that I would hurl

At the men in the three button suits


Sure does seem crazy now

Me trying to change someone else

You might think I'm lazy now

But I better just work on myself


Well, I marched and I carried signs

Hoping my side would prevail

And I tried real hard to change their minds

I even spent one night in jail


Sure does seem crazy now

Me trying to change someone else

You might think I'm lazy now

But I better just work on myself


Forgiveness was the simple solution

That told me there's nothing to do

But undo all my little illusions

That  keep me from seeing the good that's in you


Well, I once flew around the world trying to set others free

But later as my life unfurled

I saw that the prisoner was me.


Sure does seem crazy now

Me trying to change someone else

You might think I'm lazy now

I better just work on myself.


Well it's really not my business

How other people should live

The way to teach forgiveness

Is quite simply to forgive


Sure does seem crazy 

Me trying to change someone else

You might think I'm lazy now

I better just work on myself.

I'm Not Listening To You Anymore

You said I was lazy

You said I was bad

You said I was crazy

For the thoughts that I had

But something good's happening

way deep in my core

And I'm not listening to you anymore.


You said I was broken

You said I was cursed

Each time you've spoken

I've only felt worse


You can keep talkin'

But I'm closin' the door

And I'm not listening to you anymore


Protection's what I need

Or so you have decreed

You say your're saving me 

from damnation


But all your harsh decrees

Just make me feel diseased

How could they be the keys to salvation?


There is another that I'm listening to

A wise older brother 

Much kinder than you

You better get used to being ignored

Cause I'm not listening to you anymore.

If You Ain't Right With The Mirror

If you ain't right with the mirror

Then you ain't right in here


And if you ain't right in here

Then you're gonna live in fear

That someone else will see

The things that you hold secretly

The things you wish "God please"

would simply cease to be


But you found a way some forgotten yesterday

To make them go away

Or at least keep them at bay


First off you denied

Those things you hate inside

Then you rationalized

minimized, intellectualized 

and finally mentally pulverized


And projected them into space

So that every human face

Bears a little trace of your supposed disgrace


And you wish you were more kind

But every face serves to remind

You of what you have left behind

Until rage has left you bitter and blind


No wonder you hate mirrors


By now you  must be clear that

Mirrors never lie

No matter how much you deny

It's still there in your eyes


It's time that we get wise

And learn to love the parts

We've exiled from our hearts

Are you ready?  

Now look in the mirror

OK..Let's start!!

It’s All About Me

What good is a blue and cloudless sky

If I keep hanging clouds behind my eyes

What good is a calm and peaceful sea

If there’s a silent storm inside of me


Now I see, now I see

Why they’re saying it’s all about me

Now I see, now I see

A different Universe with each blessing

And each curse.


What good are horizons bright and clear

If they are misted over by my tears

What good is a sunrise full of light

If my days are darkened by my fright


Now I see, now I see

Why they’re sayin’ it’s all about me

And it’s clear, very clear

A different Universe with each blessing

And each curse.


What good is abundance without end

If I won’t accept the smallest gifts from friends

What good is the love that’s all around

If in my own sorrow I am drowned.


Now I see, now I see

Why they say that it’s all about me

Now I see, now I see

A different Universe with each blessing 

And each curse.

Medicated Man

Each morning when I’m half awake

I give my shaving kit a shake

It sounds like a nest of rattle snakes

Because my shaving kit is filled

With many different kinds of pills

That make life easier to take


I am a medicated man

Though my diagnosis isn’t who I am

‘Til I can still these shakin’ hands

I am a medicated man


I’m holy as a kitchen sponge

I know that everything is one

That doesn’t help with fight or flight

Taking these pharmaceuticals 

Won’t make the world more beautiful

But they sure get me through the night.


I am a medicated man though my diagnosis Isn’t who I am

‘Til I can still these shakin’ hands

I am a medicated man


It’s humbling to think a tiny pill

Can do so much more than my will

Mysterious and very, very strange

Those things that I cannot seem to change


I am a medicated man

Though my diagnosis isn’t who I am

A true blue modern American

I am a medicated, State College educated

I am a medicated man.

Guilty Again

Guilty again

Feeling quite exactly like I felt when I was ten

And I was caught stealing


Guilty as Sin

Man, my conscience takes it on the chin

When I give in and I'm left with this feeling


I  hate what I'm recreating

Why do I keep going back to guilt

The church lady says it's Satan

But I think it's a trap my ego built.

Outside – Inside

Outside, what you think you see

Dreams of death and scarcity

There’s nothing there you really keep

It’s only real while you’re asleep

Inside your self-made cage

Feel the narcissistic rage

There’s nothing in there but what you built

From dreams of fear and sin and guilt


Outside a brother’s blood is spilled

Because, it’s kill or be killed

So, welcome to the jungle we made

To hide from God

We’re so afraid

Because we think we trashed his throne

So we could stand each one alone

And shout out to the universe 

I’d rather ride a hell-bound hearse

Than lose my singularity 

To some vague God of Unity

And so we walk 

Each in his dream

With no idea of

What it means

Inside we’re scared

Outside it’s scary 

As we march toward

Our obituaries


But deep inside

A memory’s stuffed

That waits until 

We’ve had enough

Of outside things

That fall apart 

And break our bones and

Break our hearts

With gentle voice it call to us

As we lay facedown in the dust

To come home where our kingdoms kept

Back in a place we never left

Where “holy” is the only name

Inside outside

It’s all the same

Waking Up Is What I'm Here To Do

Waking up is what I'm here to do.

My mind is on the clock

My ass is on the cushion

Sometimes I wanna stop

But something says keep pushing

My whole left leg is numb

The cushion's hard as an anvil

There's pain in both my buns

I wish I had an Advil.


Back straight and body balanced

It takes more will that it takes talent

But waking up is what I'm here to do


There goes my 1,000th thought

My mind is louder than a stereo

For all the peace it's brought

I could have watched 

The Jerry Springer Show


Back straight and body balanced

It takes more will that it takes talent

But waking up is what I'm here to do


If I don't wake up there's no leavin'

I'll spend eternity in Cleveland

Red meat's bad, but cheese is Gouda

What's it take to be a Buddha 


I eat the right foods 

With a sweet attitude

But I'm still a sleep-walkin' dude


 I just keep on sittin still

Antenna pointed down inside

And I know I won't quit until

I find the place where Heaven hides


Back straight and body balanced

It takes more will than it takes talent

But waking up is what I'm here to do.