How I Spent My... Poem by Gabrielle Ciarann Roniyah Baer

Mundane and silly things fill my days,
home chores and foolish notions,
distractions and must run errands,
fantasies and even fun.

Worries press in some days,
'real life' has its valleys and heights,
But I am adamant,
I won't stay in the 'lowlands',
or as Lewis wrote, 'the shadowlands'.
I won't slip off the mountaintops,
or as Maslow called them, the 'peak experiences',
Not if I can help it.

My struggles are with inertia,
and some times the score is tied,
My fights are with uncaring, unfeeling, numbness,
and I think I win those more than I lose,
My battles are mostly with myself,
and as I change, so do they.

My goals are simple really, and complex
stability, and newness,
security and dreams,
safety, and freedom,
remembering well
what Dr. Franklin said about that choice.

I only want life, love and the pursuit of liberty
I only want to stay in my native land, and see the world,
I only want to keep my best beloved close, and let her fly,
I only want to keep long time friends and make some new.

I haven't checked lately,
so I'd best ask,
Maker of the Universe,
is that too much to hope?

(written in July,2000)