A good poem will interest, excite, and move you. You don’t need to “try” to like a good poem. So if a poem does not move you… move on! There is so much poetry, you can be picky.

A greatefulness practice can transform your life. But what happens when feeling grateful seems difficult, or even impossible? Here's a story and a poem that may help. (PS: GRATEFUL.ORG is an amazing resource for your gratefulness practice, co-founded by Brother David Steindl-Rast)

Some poems are so good... they can give us a kind of fresh start. Deliver gifts for the head and heart. Help us change our minds and moods...

"Heroes are all about straightening things out. The courageous love the curves as much as the straights..." –Dale Biron

That old kind of hope, "hope 1.0" is no longer up to the task. It is being replaced, and not a second too soon...

Use this poem to regain your center, agency, and way... even in these most difficult times!

"Friends, we’re trying to understand, as one, as many, as Mother Earth. And it can be as daunting as catching smoke with our bare hands." –Dale Biron

Asking Me To "Stand With The Dems" You keep asking for more money, and for me to “stand with the Dems.” I’ll stand with the Dems when they actually take a stand for us all. I’ll stand with the Dems when they break a few rules, peacefully yes, creatively for sure, forcefully, of course, as when dealing with any bully. I’ll stand with the Dems when they clean up their own act, rejecting our billionaire-backed political system, a.k.a. the coin-operated, oligarch plan. I’ll stand with the Dems when they stand for something real. I’ll stand with the Dems when they stop focusing on how bad “they” are and start focusing on how good “we all” could be. Which reminds me, where’s the Dem Party’s version of a Project 2025 Plan? Repeat after me, “ecological sanity, healthcare for all, bribery out of politics, ERA finally done, democracy at work, fair taxes, zero tolerance for monopolies and oligarchs, fair pay for fair work, robust peace process, applied equality.” Also, remember that political election outcome you were so afraid of? Me too! Well, it’s happened, now what? Why not say and do things that are pro-human, and pro-earth? Why not say and do things that aren’t hedge-fund approved, or billionaire-purchased, nor focus-group-backed, or sanctioned by political consultants, and please, no more tiny, “moving the Titanic deck chairs” incremental steps that keep serving up all that milquetoast, “business as usual” disappointment. Listen Dems, you feel me? I’ll stand up tall with you, even give a little money, if you’ll just keep it real. I mean really real. –Dale Biron…

We are helpless mapmakers. We can’t stop drawing lines, creating meaning, and shaping stories to explain the world around us. It’s how we navigate life—through beliefs, assumptions, and the mental landscapes we construct. But if we combine this irresistible human trait with the deepest wisdom we have—the kind that recognizes our profound interconnectedness—then maybe, just maybe, we can chart a path toward survival, even flourishing. The most pressing question is: What kind of maps are we making? And where are they leading us?…

If we look inside ourselves, each of us has places in our lives of brokenness, sorrow, and grief. Places that have strung us out to dry... What then? That's when this week's poem comes in handy.

Can a humorous poem make serious points? Yes. Poems can help us make sense of the world. Poems can help us ask new, sometimes uncomfortable questions. A just right poem can help us write whole new ways of seeing and feeling the world, and what's going on in it...

How To Be Less Fearful (to remind myself) "What if we, are the only Calvary that’s actually coming? What if the kindness we seek, we must bring ourselves...?" –Dale Biron

Finding moments of sanity, refuge, and even joy, is more critical than ever. This week's special poem is a potent reminder of this...

Listen to one of the most popular poems, from one of the most popular poets in the last 100 years...

"There is no requirement to read, or hear, or write anything! But why not? If I were empowered by The Great Gods of Permission, I would provide you vast Amazon rivers of it. Baptize, forgive, and bless you with it. After all, language is your human super power, the only tool you can’t put down...." –Dale Biron…