Positively 4th Grade

Hey Everybody!
Those of every age
How ’bout some free poetry
A few lines of generic rhyme
Written down
So all can see

Right now perfects the time
To be a poem
or a tree
Both sown on this Good Earth
Blooming honestly

St. Stephen Dedalus
Alive as an Irish rose
Stoned by
mother’s dominoes
Humming a tune heard deep inside
A tune his heart only

and Heaven knows

It’s useless to judge
Idealize, idolize
or compare
Nudge your neighbor
compassionately now
We all have some love to spare

When we choose to respect
Every song and every dance
It’s
senseless to pretend
and pointless to hide
When we have humility
We don’t need pride


A couple of couplets
and some clever preaching
May change the world,
Or just be vain reaching
And looking to the past for Truth
Tricks us
Into missing today’s teaching

Peace is in the balance
of thought, word, and deed
Forgiveness triumphs over
hatred and greed
The dark of night succumbs
to the dawn of day

Life is a vibration
Going back and forth, like a relay
Yin and yang, the silent bang
At once both inspired and utterly tired
We are all One poem anyway

Rob Chavez
1993