Suburban gods dwell in dumpsters and much like all others forget to make any appearance

They convene with the rats

Or maybe not at all

Probably not at all

Hum hallelujah

But I’ve become acquainted with the way the light hits my eyes just right

With the way my lacking seems to glow a bit brighter than the homes of the homeless

With the way that my sweat creates more miracles than I’ve seen spew out of churches

You ask me to drop to my knees

When all that I’ve learned is that falling is for standing back up

Press my shoulders with hardship

I will not pray

I believe that I am what I eat, so I eat humans.

I believe that I should watch what I wish for, as I might get it. But I never got her. I only got arrested.

I believe there’s a fine line between fishing and standing on the bank looking stupid.

I believe that, “if in retrospect the years of struggle will strike me as the most beautiful” then it is only because I couldn’t afford film for the camera.

I believe that “I have never met a man so ignorant that I couldn’t learn something from him,” but then I don’t know any politicians.

I believe that “in the middle of difficulty lies opportunity,” and that is when I really need it to be up and doing something!

I believe that if she forgets what I say, and she forgets what I do, then why would she care to remember how I made her feel?

I believe that if failure is unimportant, and that it takes courage to make a fool of yourself, and that we should try and try again until we succeed, then how is repeating that mistake the definition of lunacy?

I believe “that supreme excellence consists of breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting”, and that is exactly why Pookybear has perfected so many facial expressions.

I believe that if the only true wisdom is in knowing that we know nothing, than why doesn’t Pookybear realize how smart I am?

I believe that “wisdom is better than silver or gold”, but it won’t buy a bean.

I believe that if you, “stay hungry, stay foolish” you will be eating right out of Steve Jobs’ hand.

I believe there is no way that when Plato said, “The greatest wealth is to live content with little”, he could have been married.

I believe there is more, but you are already bored ;)

Unhand me

For I am not yours

To command

Though I will ultimately serve you

With my love

So pure.

They will condemn me

But not defeat me

For I am strength

They will hate me

But never beat me

For I am love

They will mock me

But not deplete me

For I am wisdom

And as this world turns slowly

From this state to the next

The time portals align

And they will come

For I will lead them

And you will not destroy

What we have made

For we will save you

And I will lead them

For I am

The Saviour.

The human understanding of self and surrounding is so simplistic in nature compared to the wealth of knowledge in the known and unknown universe.

Having said this, here is how I believe.

I am an ethereal being having a physical experience. Religion is a farce, a man made tool to keep humanity under control.

Love is the one tie that binds, all else fails.

I am all loving, all giving, all nurturing, all enduring without conditions, expectation or exceptions.

I am

Love.

Abundant reasons may exist

to wield a nome de guerre;

my purpose is to reminisce

about my father's flair.

I never got to ask of him

just why he chose the name;

quite possibly it was a whim-

I wish he could explain.

Withal, my gender was not male;

my mom handpicked my style-

but always loved to tell me tales

about a dad so wild.

As tribute to a man so grand,

I use this pseudonym-

and let his mem'ry guide my hand,

a fond salute to him.

***I constantly have people tell me to use my own name, but my dad passed long before I started writing and Bartholomew Aloiscious is what he wanted to name me if I had been male. I believe he'd be proud of my using it.

I'm not completely convinced that anyone really knows themself. I think we like to think each person understands themselves better than anyone else, but I don't think we can ever truly say we "know" outselves, because I don't really think that there's anything truly to know. There's no real objectivity in self-knowledge, only what we perceive to be true, and across almost every artistic medium, we see the notion that whatever we believe to be true about ourselves can be either acutely or obtusely biased.

Take despression for example. It's easy for me to tell myself and everyone around me that I'm fine. It's just as easy to for everyone else to see through that bullshit and call me out for it. But that's the thing: all we do is call each other on our bullshit, think we're helping each other, and tauting that we're incredibly perceptive. Half the time, we're not even right in the moment, but the other person wants to confide in someone and thus makes it look like they're more perceptive than they actually are.

The problem is that some people pride themselves on their ability to "understand" how others work, and actively fluff their own ego when it comes to psychoanalyzing others, especially when they don't ask for it, want it, or need it.

I never try to pretend like I understand how people think or know why people do things. All I aim to do is come off as someone that cares. And yes, that is also largely a biased perception of myself. I won't even go as far as to say how accurate I feel it is of me regardless of how biased the self-evaluation it would be. It just really irks me when someone tries to tell me the person that I am, or why I'm acting a certain way: not because I still want to think that I know myself better than someone else, and at the very least, I will concede that we ourselves do know ourselves better than anyone else does.

I do not believe that God has a personal hand in all of the things that people claim He does. For instance, thanking God for getting a new car, a new job, a loan, a husband. . . whatever. I heard a preacher say once that God had shown him favor by allowing him to find a parking space right by the entrance. Now, I do believe in a Supreme God, and I do believe that He can do anything He chooses to do. But, in my mind, it does not stand to reason that God would bypass saving an innocent child from rape and murder, yet take the time to make sure that a preacher gets a parking space by the door. So many people love to say “God is good” because of all the stuff they have -- riches, fame, power. However, people who do not believe in God at all have riches, fame and power.

What I do believe is that God has given to each of us all that we need to succeed in this world. We have the powerful five senses. We have the ability to think, to reason, to create. We have the ability to love. God has given us the ability to create our own perfect world, as perfect as it can be made by flawed beings. If we do the work to accomplish any task at hand, we shall succeed, whether you believe in God or not. God lets the sun shine on those who believe and those who do not. If we truly love our neighbor, there would be no innocent children raped and murdered. People love to ask, ‘How can a loving God allow so much pain and sorrow?’ I think we should ask ourselves ‘How can we allow so much pain and sorrow?’ After all, we are the ones creating all of the pain and sorrow. I believe God gave us the ability to eliminate our own pain and sorrow -- if only we would really believe and live by His spirit in us. If only we would love.

©2019 RosalinM

... a warm chocolate chip cookie and hot cup of cinnamon tea has the power to turn my upside-down-world back into being right-side-up again.

... a rainbow has power to refresh my spirit.

... Stopping the car and saving a turtle in the middle of a road from being smashed is the right thing to do.

... Seeing something as lovly as a field of sunflowers beneath a brilliant blue sky can surely cure something that is out-of-whack in my soul.

... the fragrance of a field of new-mown hay is what puts a smile on this old woman's lips as it takes her back to her carefree growing-up summer days roaming the seemingly endless 80 acre farm that was her childhood home.

... Road Apples are not meant to be baked in a pie. And cowpies are not meant to be eaten.

... Failing to return a stranger's smile is the wrong thing to do.

... if music to your ears is not the same as music to my ears, it doesn't matter. Music is in the ear of the beholder.

... if I ever have to choose between hiring someone to clean my house or someone to drive me to wherever I want to go, I will choose the driver.

... life is more fun when you let yourself take delight in simple things, such as the color of the rainbow in butterfly wings, the melody you hear when the coral bells ring... the sweet, sweet song that the sparrow sings and, well, I think you get the idea.

These things I believe with every fiber of my being.