Favorite Poems

Gifts Given

After all these tears,

a mountain of grace

LBM 3/17/2023

my life is my poem, selfie

Destiny

I read this morning, that very few people

fulfill their destiny. I came to bring Beauty.

From the bottom of the muddy pond, the

Lotus. No one asks where it came from, or

how it could rise from its squalor. Beauty is

a magnet; captivating, inspiring. It makes

this rough word livable. Lovable. Essentially

delightful. It lifts us up out of our rankness

so we can shine, closer to the sun.

LBM 3/20/2023

Great Lotus in the sky, Lori B. McCray from the pond at my doctor’s office in the middle of a concrete parking lot. Best surprise ever and as good a place as any for a sudden cardiac arrest

The Words No One Wanted

My words were like weeds no one wanted.
Pulled out at the root and left for dead. I
couldn’t care enough to save them.

Every poem, every letter, every conversation
says, “I’m sorry. Forgive me. I want you to live.”

LBM 4/5/2023

Little Lotti (my Italian grandmother didn’t do the r, lolol)

Words to the Wise Ever Evolving The Words No One Wanted

We have dismantled order

by believing in hyperbole.

A nation of skeptics,

we dare anything to be true.

The man who says “Prove it”

has given up on mystery.

Mind is a marvelous tool

but fails as a master.

The heart guides by intuition.

Mind’s logic scoffs, refusing

to follow, belittling, belligerent

and condescending.

As friends, they’re a formidable duo.

As enemies, they’re a plague against

the self. Any decision made without

consulting both is a poor one at best,

prone to unraveling.

Keep your mind sharp and your heart soft,

and your body will be undyingly grateful.

LBM 12/22/2022

Little Wee and me, duckling I drove to the Wildlife Clinic, photo by shop owner, Glass Heron, Westborough, MA

Ever Evolving

Life moves in spirals. Sometimes you are the girl who no longer wants to be here. Sometimes you are the loving listener. From confusion to clarity we ascend, sliding back but always rising higher. I have no great wisdom but this simple truth: you have to keep moving. The longer you sit and wallow, the harder it is to get up. If you can only manage one good thing, claim it as a victory. Tomorrow it might be two. Be a good friend to your self. We lose this somehow, and people write books to remind us of what we know.

Your life is a beautiful, complicated tapestry. Weathered and worn, exciting and new, ever evolving; the work of a lifetime. Don’t be discouraged. You have all the time you need to leave a loving, lasting legacy.

LBM 7/22/2021

Destiny

I read this morning, that very few people

fulfill their destiny. I came to bring Beauty.

From the bottom of the muddy pond, the

Lotus. No one asks where it came from, or

how it could rise from its squalor. Beauty is

a magnet; captivating, inspiring. It makes

this rough word livable. Lovable. Essentially

delightful. It lifts us up out of our rankness

so we can shine, closer to the sun.

LBM 3/20/2023