“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
and naked I will depart.[a]
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;
may the name of the Lord be praised.” – Job 1:21
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First Principles: Naked I Came From My Mother’s Womb and Naked I will Depart. The Lord Gave and the Lord Has Taken Away; May the Name of the Lord Be Praised
Posted in First Principles
Tagged Came, Depart, First Principles, Gave, Job 1:21, Mother's Womb, Naked, Name, Praise, Taken Away, The Lord
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A Void of Emptiness
A Void of Emptiness
by Michael Doyle
Approaching the study of the edges of space
Has only begun as technology sets the pace
For the time, it must be studied in deference
As it is a humbling, character-building experience
The stars we watch are like trees in a forest
That watch back, alive and breathing, without rest
We try to choose happiness over suffering yet fail
As bleak as we are, hoping our better angels prevail
The void of space knows the pangs of emptiness
But it is the human heart that knows loneliness
Though we swear to love one another as our bond
This promise intrudes on spaces that burn beyond
As we truly strive, making friends with our imagination
The hurt felt pervasively needs some decontamination
As the voices we begin to hear become heirs apparent
Taking form in the cruelty that is worn utterly transparent
Some put their heads in ovens and other sorts of bell jars
While others launch their voyage deep into distant stars
Our need for others is overwhelming and totally compelling
As it breeds jealousy, envy, and fears that are soul-revealing
Space is a moving sea that flows between each other's shore
Crashing in waves of feelings that wear until they are worn
As we mortals face the anguish of our moments spent alone
And we learn, again and again, that we are not made of stone
Into the muddy waters, we continue to into the ebb and flow
While our conversations are the sum of more than we know
We often give up the essence of ourselves to keep others
In so much love as we are with the vanity of one another
(c) March 9, 2024 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Alive, Alone, Anguish, Approach, Bell Jars, Better Angels, Beyond, Bleak, Bond, Breathing, Burn, Character Building, Choose, Compelling, Conversations, Crash, Cruelty, Decontamination, Deference, Distant Stars, Ebb and Flow, Edge, Emptiness, Envy, Essence, Experience, Fail, Fear, Flow, Forest, Happiness, Heads, Hear, Heirs Apparent, Human Heart, Humbling, Hurt, Imagination, Intrude, Jealousy, Know, Learn, Loneliness, Love One Another, Made of Stone, Making Friends, Moments, Mortals, Moving Sea, Muddy Waters, Need, One Another, Others, Ourselves, Ovens, Overwhelming, Pangs, Poetry and Poems, Promise, Shore, So Much Love, Soul Revealing, Space, Stars, Strive, Study, Suffering, Sum, Swear, Taking Form, Technology, Transparent, Trees, Vanity, Voice, Void, Voyage, Watch, Watch Back, Waves, Wear, Wore, Worn
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First Principles: Do What You Can, With What You Have, Where You Are
“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” – Theodore Roosevelt
Posted in First Principles
Tagged Are, Can, Do, First Principles, Have, Theodore Roosevelt, What, Where
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Thought For the Day: The Best Way To Predict the Future Is To Create It
“The best way to predict the future is to create it.” – Peter Drucker
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Best, Create, Future, Peter Drucker, Predict, Thought For the Day, Way
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Thought For the Day: Where We Stand Is Not As Important As the Direction In Which We Are Moving
“Where we stand is not as important as the direction in which we are moving.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Direction, Important, Moving, Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr, Stand, Thought For the Day, We
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First Principles: Here Comes the Orator! With His Flood of Words, and His Drop of Reason
“Here comes the orator! With his flood of words, and his drop of reason.” – Benjamin Franklin (1735)
Did anyone else find that State of the Union Address less than unifying?
Posted in First Principles
Tagged Benjamin Franklin, Come, Drop of Reason, First Principles, Flood, Orator, Words
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There’s Been A Little Damage
There's Been A Little Damage
by Michael Doyle
There's been a little damage to my eyes
But that's the cost to all that I've seen
As with a brave heart ready for the sunrise
There have been so many places that I've been
The experts say I didn't do it all quite right
I'm the first to admit that I got a lot wrong
As my life begins to fade so does my sight
But here I am and still pushing on quite strong
I believe the term used was vascular encroachment
It seems a little heavy and in need of encouragement
The thing is that I can somehow still manage to see
Since I should be dead, to me that's not a travesty
There's been a little damage to my eyes
But that's the cost to all that I've somehow seen
Armed with a brave heart ready for the sunrise
There have been so many places that I've been
And my goodness, the things I've seen along the way
They've been the kind of things not seen everyday
I guess I'm saying that I'm okay with some mistakes
In my life, joy has been larger than heartbreaks
I'd estimate that a lot of people have seen much less
And their lives are quite nice from what I'd guess
So, with the report in that I won't be going blind
I'm okay with the damage that they tell me they find
(c) March 7, 2024 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Been, Blind, Brave Heart, Cost, Damage, Dead, Encouragement, Estimate, Experts, Eyes, Fade, Find, First To Admit, Guess, Heartbreaks, Heavy, Joy, Larger, Life, Manage To See, Mistakes, Much Less, Not Seen Everyday, Okay, Places, Poetry and Poems, Pushing On, Quite Nice, Quite Right, Report, Seen, Seen Along the Way, Sight, Somehow, Strong, Sunrise, Sy, Travesty, Vascular Enchroachment, Wrong
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First Principles: The Mild Voice of Reason, Pleading the Cause of An Enlarged and Permanent Interest, Is But Too Often Drowned
“The mild voice of reason, pleading the cause of an enlarged and permanent interest, is but too often drowned, before public bodies as well as individuals, by the clamors of an impatient avidity for immediate and immoderate gain.” – James Madison (1788)
Thought For the Day: Nature’s Laws Affirm Instead of Prohibit. If You Violate Her Laws, You Are Your Own Prosecuting Attorney, Judge, Jury, and Hangman
“Nature’s laws affirm instead of prohibit. If you violate her laws, you are your own prosecuting attorney, judge, jury, and hangman.” -Luther Burbank, horticulturist (7 Mar 1849-1926)
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Affirm, Hangman, Judge, Jury, Nature's Laws, Prosecuting Attorney, Rohibit, Thought For the Day
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Growing Our Intimacy
Growing Our Intimacy
by Michael Doyle
We have so little time for introspection
As we approach life with our expectations
Sometimes it's an easy flow of conversation
Other times, we're micro-managing our destination
Being present and being openly here
Is the experiment of what might disappear
As our talking brings us together
We are welcomed to the party of sweet surrender
Letting other people in can be scary
We all know this with complete sincerity
We cannot approach love without doing so
However rough the start of letting love flow
Nice guys sometimes don't get to try
Bad girls are often left to quietly cry
Sometimes, we really don't know why
Life comes to us without ready alibis
As we think and as we grow to feel
We nearly all want that something real
There's a need for us to touch the flame
While we hope the other feels the same
Love can be there for the taking
As we dance past the sentimental faking
Smiling for all the reasons just because
This is the path walked in becoming us
We introduce our words of affirmation
As each comfortable silence becomes confirmation
And the excitement feels like electricity
As magnets attract, we spark our intimacy
Until finally, no longer internally debating
We spend each day impatiently anticipating
The nights of love we'll spend together
As friendship grows into something much better
(c) March 6, 2024 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Affirmation, Alibis, Anticipating, Approach, Approach Love, Attract, Bad Girls, Becoming Us, Being Present, Comfortable Silence, Confirmation, Conversations, Cry, Dance, Destination, Disappear, Each Day, Easy Flow, Electricity, Excitement, Expectations, Experiment, Fake, Feel, Friendship, Grow, Hope, Internal Debate, Intimacy, Introduce, Introspection, Just Because, Letting Love Flow, Life, Little Time, Love, Magnet, Micro-manage, Nice Guys, Nights of Love, Open, Party, Path, Poetry and Poems, Reason, Rough, Scaru, Sentimental, Sincerity, Smile, Something Much Better, Something Real, Spark, Spend Together, Sweet surrender, Take, Talk, The same, Think, Together, Touch the Flame, Try, Welcome, Why, Words
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