(C) 2007 Lyle T. Lachmuth, ALL Rights Reserved

If you like this poem, LINK to it, please.

What is my destiny
that calls me so?

What is the expression
that wants to write
from me?

I hear the echoes
of a distant voice
but
am uncertain
how to transform
that voice
to action,
to make it real.

If I knew
what wanted expression
it would be
an urging
to follow one’s bliss.

This sense that
somehow
there are lessons
I can share.

If only
I knew
how to articulate
those

— oh, and
get paid!

If you like this poem, LINK to it, please.

(C) 2007 Lyle T. Lachmuth, ALL Rights Reserved

Some 20 years ago one of my co-workers struggled with expressing her feminine energy in the macho world of the oil and gas company that employed us. Those were the days when John Malloy wrote his fashion manifesto, "Dress For Success".

My friend’s struggles with who she was and what ‘the corporation’ expected inspired the following poem.

Recently, some of my female clients seem to be struggling with similar issues related to expressing their feminine energy. This poem is dedicated to the two Kathys and everyone who struggles with expressing their unique self.

The Corporate Woman

 Navy Pinstripe ice cube shell
Hiding who you really are.
Stolid, firm, corporate being.
Heartless bitch or so it seems.

 Sterile, stainless, smooth exterior
Smoothering, seething passion’s fire
Fliny eyes, uncaring glance beam
Warmth inside goes scarcely seen.

 Feelings bottled up inside
Escaping in moments seldom seen.
Unseemly, not important things
Yet, these are really you.

 Who can really see you?
Who in fact dares?
Frightened by your fierce visage
Masking your tender soul.

 None dares to search beyond
The frigid, icy image you project
To peer into the depths of you
And, see what cowers there.

 A warm, caring Spirit,
Smiling, joyful heart, passionate being.
All of these you are, dear friend
If you’d but the courage to show!

© 1984 Lyle T.
Lachmuth, All Rights Reserved

 Forking,
the
roads
before
await.

 
To
where?

 Must
I
choose?

 Standing
here
has
but
little
meaning
to
the journey.

 In
hesitation
lies
not
the
future.

 Though
I
pause,
briefly
wonder.

 Remembering:
the
roads
taken
have
me
brought
to
this
very
place.

 Comes
the
meaning,
in
the
journeying.

 So,
I
choose.

Copyright 1993 Lyle T. Lachmuth, All Rights Reserved

In a recent edition of my newsletter, Creative Careers Unleashed, I talked about strategies for finding the courage you need to make the changes you want and need to make.

Along that theme, I’d like to share this poem I wrote in 1987:

Courage

Cowards are we all,
Who easy choices make.

Fear whispers
In every ear,
Few choose
Not to heed.

Seldom to us
Is given greatness,
And, it is not
The grand acts
That make us great.
Rather,
Small choices
Carved out of despair,
Forged in pain.
Choosing life’s hurtful embrace.

Not for other’s
Scant approval.
But, for self,
We do that
Which we must do.

Living for ourselves
Is never easy.
We stand alone,
Balanced at the edge.

Giving no thought to others,
We fall amongst the uncaring.
Heed too much others’ calls,
We join the sheeplike masses.

And, yet all this knowing
We dare to say,
“I choose.”

This one is for Francesca…

FLOWING WITH THE RIVER 

Flowing with the River
Only easy is,
If you like the River
Liquid are. 

The River
Never cares
Where it is going.

It’s Destination fixed,
Determined throughout
The aeons. 

It exists
Solely to Flow,
To move,
To feed
In passing the
Birds,
Insects,
And animals. 

It moves throughout
The day
And night.
It has
no beginning,
Nor any real end
And
Yet connects
The Genesis
To the Terminus. 

It’s meaning
Is in the Flow
Not the Beginning,
Nor the End. 

If you would
Like the River be
Then Know thy Destiny awaits,
Ever unchanged. 

And,
Focus not on Closing
Nor Opening. 

But
On the Being
And the Flow.

The Feeling
And the Moment.

The Movement
And the Moving.

The Pace
And the Journey.

The Breath and the Sounds.

The Sight and the Touch.

The Taste and the Smell.

The Savour and The Now.

The Now and the Moment.

For the Moment
Is all
There ever is
And
Ever will be.

Amen.

Tags: Poetry

PASSION DRIVES THE WORLD

Passion
drives the
world,
to love
and
to hate. 

It is
the fire,
ignited by the soul
and the spirit,
that fuels
creation –
and destruction. 

When fed
with love,
when nurtured,
cared,
and lovingly
expressed,
it grows
to faithfully
articulate
the gifts
received
from God. 

When starved,
repressed,
denied,
and
locked away,
it festers,
rots,
and
vomits out
its pussy self.
 

So, love
your passion
or
beware!

Tags: Creative Professionals, Passion, Poetry