Positively 4th Grade

Hey Everybody!
Those of every age
How about 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 and grown

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 only his heart

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 respect
For every song and every dance
It’s
senseless to pretend
and pointless to hide
We have humility
Greater than 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 diminishes
hatred and greed
The black of night
succumbs
to the sundawn day

Life is a vibration
Back and forth, a reliable relay
Yin and yang, the silent bang
At once both inspired

and utterly tired
We are all One poem anyway

Rob Chavez
1993