It is difficult
to get news from poems
yet men die miserably every day
for lack
of what is found there.
— William Carlos Williams
In the global village today when fear rather than compassion is the dominant source of the energy of human expression, sustainable human communities are not possible. Why is that?
Nations Today …
Grow a lot of food and find nothing that nourishes.
Invent a lot of pills and find no medicine.
Print a lot of words and find nothing to read.
Create a lot of art and find no beauty.
Manufacture a lot of weapons and find no security.
Pave a lot of roads and find nowhere to go.
Make a lot of noise and find they are unable to hear.
Produce a lot of fear and find there is nowhere to hide.
Project a lot of hate and find their hearts have turned to stone.
— Roy Henry
Homecoming
I have ridden out the stormy seas,
And arrived home to Penelope’s embrace.
I have arrived the awakened sailor,
Delivered from the womb of the hero’s adventure.
— Roy Henry
A Climber of Trees
Am I dying,
Or am I struggling to wake up?
I can answer both yes and no!
My body gradually, yet relentlessly fails to do my bidding.
The melodies of man and nature are fading away.
Sadly and not sadly I carom between two worlds,
Assume two identities.
A faltering graying seventy-year old and
An ageless swashbuckling Zorro.
From heartbreaking sadness to a carefree joi de vive
I scamper up a limber tree swaying in a soft warm breeze
Blowing many summers ago.
I look out over my searching friends below,
A child again playing the endless games in an endless life.
I have left the earth and am flying over the housetops.
I am invisible momentarily and then I descend
From air to branch to ground
And the squealing energy of my fellow creatures.
“Roy” my Dad shouts, “Come in, it’s getting dark.”
“It’s too late.” I think to myself as I head for home.
My home is elsewhere now,
I have become a climber of trees.
— Roy Henry
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For a much more in-depth discussion on Simple Reality, read Simple Reality: The Key to Serenity and Survival, by Roy Charles Henry, published in 2011.
