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Musings

Poetry Index

Out of My Skin
Monarch
A Matter of Scale

Heat Wave
Poet and Pet
Awakening
Rebirth

A Reasonable Life

Snapshots 2006
Haikus
Hush and Listen
Faces
Lizard Thoughts
Thunder
White Rose
Mother of the World
Finally

Poems 2005 —
Passion & Discontent
Absence
Blind
Dance
Dry
The Wake of Disaster

Evening
Mama's Tears
Nude
Old Furniture
Pertoglyphs

Rest
Saved
Sounds of an Empty Promise
Entertainment
Sycamores
Three Quarters
Vientos del Mediterráneo
Weavings

Battle
Giving In

Poems 2004
The Dissappearance of Lao Tsu
Nameless Beauty
Commuting
Memory Game
Every Little Thing Counts
Landscapes of Yo Yo Ma's Brazil
Miles (to Miles Davis)
The Colors of Piazzolla's Tango

War and Peace
Making Friends
Old Glory
Kabul Update
Take Heart
March Madness

Poems 2003
Johnny Cash
Between Heartbeats
"Naked Poetry"
Sunflower Sonnet No. 1.5

New York City
My NYC is not your NYC
SanitationWorker, NYC
Gentrification
Passing By
Belly-button Renaissance
West Chelsea

Poems 2002
Crisis
Finding Each Other
Kindred Spirits
Meteor
To Our Youth
At Sunset
Questions
Hollyhock
Holland in Winter

On Society
Mirrors
McKinney X-Tex
Lady Liberty
Making Friends
Old Glory
Walking

Life's Lessons
Child's Life
Crashing Surf
In Search of the Unknown
Love at First Sight
Holding Hands
Grandpa's Tools

Musings
First Snow
Impressionism
Anonymous
Downcast Eyes
Sagrada Familia

In France
French Gardens
Air Show
Cell Phones 01-04

Churches
Lovers in the Castle


 

Downcast Eyes

Is it shyness, indifference, or guilt
that turns your eyes
from meeting others?

Does it matter in the big picture
if we do not make contact
with strangers?

Time is our own,
our space is our own -
why risk being vulnerable;
why let others
enter our world?

And then the magic moment comes
when you realize
that it is not destiny,
but free will,
that makes our life rich with experience.

When we let another enter our world,
even for the fleeting moment
of a smile,
of a glance, that says,
"I acknowledge your existence,"
we create a spark of energy
a subtle affirmation of unity,
a step towards peace.

Looks do not have to be predatory -
they can be an act of blessing.
We fear our desire
to possess
and be possessed.

In the act of recognition
one already has all,
without possessing.
It is so hard
to love without desire,
to appreciate without coveting.

How would our world become
if everyone met
in a confident and joyful greeting
rather than with downcast eyes?

 

© 2000 Richard Sidy

© 2002 Richard Sidy

 

 

 

© 2002 SNS Press
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