Man's Quest

Enticed by comfort,
We pursue money,
And lose touch with hope.

Enticed by control,
We pursue power,
And lose touch with faith.

Enticed by significance,
We pursue sex,
And lose touch with love.

The Greatest of These

Power?

From my hands come the works of others,

Multiplied through me,

So I have none.

I do not want power

As the moment I feel strength,

I keel over and lose all control.

Let me sit in my weakness,

For there, true strength lies.

Alas, power is the enemy of faith.

Comfort?

I scoff at comfort.

Let life bring challenges and suffering,

Where I must endure with gratitude,

To mold my character,

Like a sharp sword,

That slices through and shapes my heart,

To reveal hope.

Yes, comfort is the enemy of hope.

Significance?

I have had riches galore,

The admiration of the world,

Fame and fortune abounding,

But when I look back,

The only things I have kept,

Are the memories of giving,

When my abundance poured over into the lives of others,

The times I sacrificed what I might gain,

For the well being of another,

Purely for the sake of love.

And when I have loved,

I have been filled with love.

Yes, let me be last,

Of little significance,

Serving in secrecy,

With love.

A Delicate Balance

In the face of value,

How can I find equality,

As opposed to believing or proving I am better than,

Or even worse than others?

In the face of vulnerability,

How can I accept help when I need it,

As opposed to being an utterly helpless dependent,

Or becoming an impervious self reliant fool.

In the face of imperfection,

How can I learn to integrate the good and bad,

So I do not feel I must hide my weaknesses,

Or become the rebel without a cause?

Lost Friends

Today, I lost a great friend,

My soul cries out,

Yet no tears flow,

My heart weeps,

But you cannot see my pain,

The well is dry,

For the wealth of sorrow,

Has caused a drought,

The sword it stabs deep into my heart,

My he finally find rest.

Living a Life of Quiet Desperation

There once was a time when I would curse the heavens to freeze time.

Alas, be careful what you wish for.

I wonder if time will ever fly again.

If my hands will once again be blessed by our loving God.

Or if I am destined to journey about my life's work,

With a quiet desperation of gratitude,

In peaceful solitude.

Where does the future head?

What battles wait around the corner?

In the midst of a dreadful season,

In the midst of a mighty sword slashing through my heart,

I wait patiently in my agony.

Caged Love

And day and night, I think about her, though I cannot reach out my hand.

My heart bleeds while it beats and so I remain paralyzed.

The safety of life's constraints, the unexercised options which keep us free.

But when the wind blows, I feel her fingers through my hair and fantasize of long awaited rest.

Within a single touch, I melt together the memories of a loving mother, a compassionate sister and a joyful daughter.

The power overrides me, persuading me.

The forbidden fruit, the sin itself, displays my weakness, my dependency, my vulnerability.

And opens my heart to display the void, for which my only defense is the sensation of a deep sorrow.
...
<SI> Scott Izu, PhD
© October 2014

Relationship Battlefield

You left me for dead,

You beat me until blood was gushing down my face,

You bastard, you drunken fool,

You dragged my name through the gutter,

You took your sweet revenge,

That I could never forget,

My pride and ego which has defended me,

Which has protected me when no one else would,

It will not let me forget,

We've fought and fought and fought,

And stabbed and stabbed and stabbed,

But through it all,

Despite it all,

We built a life of great memories,

Can we just pretend it all never happened?

And know that it was the desire for more that killed us?

Why not let the bell ring?

And go another round in hopes that it can get better.

Would you?

Could you?

Go another round?

...
<SI> Scott Izu, PhD
© March 2015

Love of Broken Dreams

I look back at it all and weep,

The world and its chaos surrounded me,

I let you in,

Brought you into my world,

A safe haven separated and isolated,

A dream land of sorts.

I had been beat up, left for dead by an unloving cruel world,

I gave you everything this broken man could give.

Everything.

And it still was not enough.

I was never enough and I am truly sorry.

I hope your next relationship is with someone ten times the man I was.

Compassion without Justification

The key to having compassion for a hurting soul,

Requires understanding.

The key to understanding is sharing an experience to which you can relate.

And when you can extend compassion,

It releases you from having to bestow judgement,

For while you know there is no justification,

You can truly say,

I do not blame you for stealing,

For if I were in your situation I would do the same,

And you can hold this view

While simultaneously acknowledging,

That the victimization

Is not an excuse for a bad decision.

Water Flows

I give so that I may know what I need,

That I might feel full and not empty,

That I might pursue that which brings joy,

Rather than that which provides a sensation overload of fleeting pleasures.

The beauty lies in the simple,

Which is unbelievably complex,

Mysteries of time and space,

The joys of creation.