Shepherd

So you say you're ninety nine percent,
with your bruised face,
bleeding lip,
and blackend eye.

So you say you're ninety nine percent,
with your eyes red,
from all the tears that have fallen,
from all the suffering you've endured.

So you say you're ninety nine percent,
with a bruised, broken heart;
and a confidence shattered,
by the harsh criticism of this damming world.

So you say you're ninety nine percent,
you say you're all right;
but I know you better than that,
why won't you tell me?

So you say you're ninety nine percent,
even in the darkest hour;
and when you stumble in the darkness,
and cut your knee on the hard ground...

...I'll pick you up,
and keep you moving on,
and moving on,
out of the darkness;

Back into the light.

The Art of Running

Your legs burning,
your breathing labored,
your vision blurred,
your arms like rubber.

But you can't stop,
you must go on.

The road continues,
and continues,
further and further,
without end.

But you can't stop,
you must go on.

Tree roots reach up,
like snares,
hills rise,
like mountains.

But you can't stop,
you must go on.

Each step
is harder than the last;
every breath
weaker than the previous;
every muscle
burns with excretion;
every fiber of your being
screams out in panic, "STOP!"

But you can't stop,
you must go on.

You round a corner
your goal is in sight
it stares you down
as you strain to reach it.
harder and harder
you push yourself
head swimming,
legs wobbling,
arms shaking,
stomach churning.

As you reach it
your legs almost buckle
but you steady yourself
like an acrobat  with one to many drinks.

All your energy spent,
you hobble past your goal
completely and utterly
spent.

But you can't stop,
you must go on
because
You're only half way there.

Things Ghat Get Under My Skin

   

Some things that irritate me can just come out of the blue; like slow drivers...you come over a hill and BOOM!  I really don't know whether it is because I have a short fuse or a poor combination of location and time, but whether the reason, it irritates me how much I get irritated.  I can't seem to understand why people irritate me so much; other of how dumb humans seem to be.  

I'm sure it's because of our egos.  I see people all the time talk about the strange things their cat or dog do and comment on how dumb they are.  But, did anybody ever wonder what cats or dogs thought about their owners? 

How silly must we look to our pets every time we have to microwave our food, or do the laundry.  They probably find the whole concept of warm food and clothing to be absolutely ridiculous.  We comment every time a dog openly licks itself clean in public, but how strange we must look to them with our expensive shampoos and soaps.  Don't we have tongues to?

And what about the hair issue.  We all know the stereotypical shaggy dog.  But don't you think that we must look real strange to our pets?  "What the heck!" they must think, "they only have hair on one end of their bodies, and yet spend so much time cleaning it!"  It's true though, how many people comment on a cute dog, but that dog didn't spend hours "perfecting" its hair with professional beauty and hair products.    

Has anyone ever noticed also how dogs always seem to be smiling?  People say that it's just the way their mouths hang open, and others say that they are always happy because they're too dumb to feel any other emotion.  I think it's because they know something that we don't. The reason nothing seems to bother them is because they know how to let loose.

They don't concern themselves on how other dogs look, but rather how each other's asses smell.  I think    we need to look to dogs to know the secret to being happy.  We need to let loose more often.  If you're so concerned about what clothes to wear, don't wear any at all; it's that easy!  And who cares about showering?  If you tell a dog it smells, the dog isn't going to care.  Likewise, if nobody showered, then we'd all smell like crap and nobody would give a second thought whether their neighbor smelled like decomposing diapers.

 Dogs always seem to be happy to do things even though they may not want to.  Take for instance a walk.  Just at the mere mention of that word, my dog goes berserk.  I wonder if a dog has ever thought, "Heck no I don't want to go for a stupid walk, but I'll do it anyways because I need the exercise."  Meanwhile all we see is a seemingly innocent dog with a stupid grin on it's face.  Only if people had attitudes towards exercising like that, then we wouldn't have four hundred pound McDonald giants thundering around taking up the whole sidewalk on barley visible legs.

All I'm saying is that people need to loosen up and stop being so stiff and be more like dogs.  Then maybe small things won't be irritating anymore, we all may actually get along for a change, and obesity won't be a problem any more.  Life can be so simple, all we need to do is stop making the transaction so complicated.