Gone are the days of running top speed
at hurdles, leaping, landing, launching off
towards the next one.
That is not to say the hurdles have won.
Time brings wisdom that
suggests a more thoughtful,
coordinated attack.
Bring out the step stool, detour
around the hurdles, or perhaps
just plant climbing roses at their base
and watch the hurdle bloom.
#74
Believe in answers
and they will follow you home
and call you by name.
Your only problem
will be sorting them out and
choosing the right one.
#28
Why Answers Are Like Chocolate Easter Eggs
There’s always more than one.
They hide in plain sight.
Someone else usually sees them first.
The ones you buy are never as satisfying as the ones you find.
The more you collect, the more you want.
The joy is often in the finding.
Why Answers Are Not Like Chocolate Easter Eggs
They won’t make you gain weight
They won’t rot your teeth.
You can share them with others and still have them.
You can find them all year round.
#290
The answers
have a habit of hiding
where we least expect, sprouting
like “Kick Me” signs on our backs; no matter
how often we turn around we don’t see them until
one day we look in the mirror because
maybe seeing everything backwards
will allow us to reverse
engineer an answer.
And there it is.
And it’s the complete opposite
of what we thought the answer would be because
we really didn’t understand
the questions.
#188
Asleep I am aware
Awake I can ignore
And in the drowsy place between
the two there is a door.
I know it leads to answers but
I cannot seem to find
the strength or the ambition
to unlock my mind.
Or maybe I’m afraid
of what’s behind the door.
Asleep I am aware
Awake I can ignore.
#158
Keys on maps provide translations
of the symbols and squiggles and shapes.
Keys to doors provide access
to a places where we can be safe.
Keys to tests provide answers.
Keys on cans provide spam,
(or sometimes herring or sardines,
or large, jelly covered, cooked hams.)
Keys to hearts provide insights
into who we were and are.
Low-key, high-key, off-key, on-key
Please don’t key my car.
Keys on musical instruments
provide music (if not off-key).
Keys to archways keep their stones
from falling down on me.
But the keys on my computer
are the ones I use the most
to send my words around the world
Whenever I hit “post”.
#51
For all the problems in our lives
that crop up day to day
someone wrote a book about
the myriad of ways
to deal with, cope with, solve, or end,
exploit or just ignore them,
based on their experience of
what others wrote before them.
As if the simple answer simply
wasn’t good enough
we dress it up and make it dance
and add a lot of stuff
to make it sexy, make it cool
to make you think you need it
and charge you nineteen ninety five
to take it home and read it.
I’ll give you freely the advice
given free to me
because a world of happy souls
is where I want to be.
Ask for what you want in life
then dare to believe it.
Paint the picture in your mind
then smile as you receive it.
#16
My CD "New Traditions" is available for listening or digital download
My CD "Breathe" is available to listen to or for digital download
Linda Studley is a writer, songwriter, independent recording artist, and sometime graphic artist living in Northern BC, Canada
Linda Studley 