Author: E.A.Fussell

Florida native, poet, writer, artist, adventurer, optimist, lover of chocolate.

Attaining mastery

Being brave is a decision

Bravery requires vulnerability

Combined with

A silent acknowledgement

That you may be hurt, or ignored

Kindness can be an act of bravery

And can sometimes result in

The deepest kind of hurt or

Ignorant rejection

Brave souls understand this

It’s easy to be kind

To kind people

Being kind to the unkind

Or to the downright hateful

That takes a type of bravery

That I may never master

E.A. Fussell

07.29.2020

You and you alone know

Learn to be okay

With people not knowing

Your side of the story

They will believe whatever

They want to

Regardless of your truth

Can’t you see

Your truth is really only

Your truth

You are the only one

Who knows what’s in your heart

Or in your head

It’s your experience alone

And others

Can never fully comprehend

What your experience has been

Just as you

Can never fully comprehend theirs

Stop trying to explain yourself

It’s a waist of energy

Just be yourself

Some will like you

Some won’t

That’s okay

Our purpose here

Is not to win a popularity contest

Our purpose is to be our best self

Not a carbon copy of someone else

Not a puppet

Allowing others to pull the strings

Not a docile

Go-along-with-the-crowd crony

Not a one-day-when goal seeker

Our purpose is to be

The best version

Of what we were created to be

Artist, writer, farmer, teacher, singer

Doctor, lawyer, architect, contractor

Realtor, laborer, driver, rancher

So many labels to choose from

Don’t accept any on them

They can never fully express

Who you are

A unique individual with

Independent thoughts and ideas

Find a way to be okay

With only you

Knowing the truth

About you

E.A. Fussell

07.28.2020

Visions

Photo by Jay Michaud

The table

An ancient symbol of gathering

Cast your eyes upon me

What do you see

A loving family

Recounting their day

The father his work

The children their play

Friends consuming food and wine

Talking, laughing, much imbibing

Adversaries in tense negotiations

Kingdoms at stake

History in the making

Look upon me

What do you see

It is more a reflection of you

Than it is of me

E.A. Fussell

07.25.2020

Photo by Jay Michaud

Enter the gate to another dimension
The length, width, and depth of it
You have yet to know
Beware
Should you chose to enter in
You won’t be the same
When you come out again
You’ll be transformed
From deep within
And a mind
Once expanded
Cannot return
Certain knowledge gained
Cannot be unlearned
So
Choose your course
And choose wisely my friend
Ignorance is bliss they say
But is it really
Would you like to know
What it’s like to play
With dragons of old
Knowledge is like a dragon
Sometimes dormant, sleeping
Then waking to devour the mind
In consuming thought
Burning up old ideas
Igniting new possibilities
Would you like to learn
How to detach
And observe the dragon playing
Without the urge
To grab your sword
And immediately start slaying
Enter in my friend
Or
Stay as you are

E.A. Fussell
07.25.2020

It’s all in our mind

Be careful what grabs your curiosity
With your attention distracted
Behind you may creep
Something reaching out to grab you
That is scarier than you think
The danger lies not
In what we do not know
But in “what we think”
“We do”
Being grabbed unaware
May be a simple action
Harmless in nature
But in our mind
It only takes a fraction
Of a second in time
To turn us upside down
And inside out
Because we thought
The gesture
With danger was fraught
Let’s be curious, yes
Take our mind and explore
Being careful not to loose sight
Of what we know in our core
There is seldom danger
In anything we find
Most of the danger
Exists only in our mind

E.A. Fussell
07.24.2020

Searching for now

Mindfulness living

Or Living in the Now

Have become popular phrases

A seemingly simple undertaking

Complex in proper execution

We are told to put all

Past or future thoughts

Out of our mind

And embrace this moment

As it’s all we really have

But even in meditation

Holding onto now is difficult

Let alone trying to do it

During a work day

Rapid fire thoughts

Bombard the mind

Making now

Really hard to find

They say with practice

A peaceful quiet mind

Can be attained

Maybe, but right now

My attempts to find it

Feel more like a strain

E.A. Fussell

07.20.2020

Resist or conform

I wonder if my luggage

Could pass as a mask

I ponder the idea

Of changing my resolve

From solidly resisting

The attack on our freedom

Not accepting direction from

Social propaganda and lies

Has me stranded at home

When I really want to fly

The Bible tells me

I’m being disobedient that

I should go with the flow

And give my adversary a high-five

Keep my opposing thoughts

On the down-low

I am in a mental and emotional

Tug-of-war

Half a year has gone by

Normally by this time

I would have traveled near and far

Now I barely leave my town

And only by car

The deciding factor

The determining end

May be an invitation to Alaska

From a long-time friend

A view of the last frontier

Sounds super appealing

I just have to convince

My stubborn self

That my resistance

Makes no difference

One way or the other

I’m just a blip on the radar

Watching world events

That make no sense

All the while I’m just

Longing for the wilderness

E.A. Fussell

07.15.2020

Transportation to imagination

As a child I learned that

It’s not just an old tire swing

It’s a magic machine

That can transport you

Anywhere

Your imagination can take you

I miss those innocent days

When my mind could freely

Imagine

Unencumbered by adult thoughts

Not yet jaded by experience

E.A. Fussell

7.13.2020