Author: ~Keith Alan Hamilton~ (~KAH~)

one wish

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If I could have
but one wish
~    it would be
to grant the gift
of suspending time
where for awhile
you would be freed
from your duty
~    so you
may
skip joyously
as the child
without burden
or worry
along the trail
full of memories
invoked by the senses
experiencing
the physical
~    land
~    air
~    water
and the fire of sun
shared by another
within the same realm
of appreciation
by your kindred spirit
~    although
not
the same
occasion   ~
that favorite place
away from it all
to walk
to dream
to relax
to just be    ~

~    even if
only a journey
from the once was
recalled fondly
to mind

Words & Image by    ~Keith Alan Hamilton~

I may choose ~

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I may choose   ~
to be
and remain
this insignificant
whomever
~    being
little more than
some offshoot
of futility
withering among
the quagmire
beholden
to the bland
and unnoticeable
land of forgotten
nourished
by ambiguity
and despoiled
with victim-hood
or
I may choose   ~
to be
and become
this significant
somebody
~    being
fully able
as the tree
sturdy
and forthright
along that winding
road of life
filled with
many shadows
those struggles
seeming so
mountainous
at times
and yet
I may choose   ~
refuse to give in
stand tall
being that example
for others to go on

Words & Image by    ~Keith Alan Hamilton~

as I stroll about

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as I stroll about
the well trodden path
within the tall grasses
covering the field
called life   ~
which at times
can become enveloped
with this pallor
a sort of   ~
sobering mood
that settles
like a veil
upon the landscape
of the mind
initiating
contemplation
very similar
to the breadth   ~
appearance
and feel
of the gray tinted
leafless trees   ~
quietly
standing
still
on
the approach of
a mountain slope
along the Glen Cove Trail
in Vail   ~   Colorado
held ever so tightly
by the spell of fall’s grip
and then   ~
my thoughts
come back to you
walking upon
a parallel path
filled in kind
with ups and downs
despite the sorrows
I am confident
the joy of life
will return   ~
once again
for you and me

Words by    ~Keith Alan Hamilton~

friends forever

friends forever   ~
so easy to say
within the emotion
of the moment
~   and yet
not so easy
to sustain
why   ~
‘cause
if you let the shit
of life
that bullshit
get in the way
the stone walls
which fortify
the foundation
for which friendship
has strength
starts to topple
until the bond
the thing that holds   ~
it all together
disintegrates
into nothingness

~    well
that’s one
way
to handle it
I guess   ~

or   ~
you keep in mind
the why for   ~
the reason
for being friends
despite what others
may   ~   or may not do
‘cause sustaining
a friendship
Is the challenge
the reward
for tolerance
for patience
the kindness
of acceptance
that leads to
the graciousness
embodying forgiveness
and a friendship
which lasts
~    forever
no bullshit

Words by    ~Keith Alan Hamilton~

the struggle

Tired I am
trying to be all I can be
Struggle and fight the odds
I’ll show them
Yeah right
sometimes I wonder if it’s worth it all
Beyond my delusions
who really cares what I do
All seem busy just living their lives each day
Never noticing my efforts
my cause, my vision

Damn it all
I say to my pathetic self
Think about it
who really listens to your bitching ways
up to me to live proactively and to bring change
I must cherish the moment and live fully
Appreciate life’s struggle
therein lies the key
Not the end that really matters
but it’s all in the journey

“When it comes to that journey called life, fully enjoy the dance before the music comes to an end.”

peace out

Words by    ~Keith Alan Hamilton~

Dedicated to my muse  –  KAP

8 Peace Out Poems about I and me

1

Hopefully   ~   later
Me being me
My unique blend
Added flavor
To the mix   ~
My character
As a self
The I
In   ~   Individual
Was deemed
Discernible
From the rest   ~
Even if,
Remembered
As some odd
Aftertaste

2

ain’t gotta
do it your way
nor am I gonna
do it your way
~ ~
do you hear ME
~ ~
I got my style
I got my rhythm
I got my ME on
~ ~
do you see ME
~ ~
try to know ME
whether you
get ME or not
~ ~
here I am
right before you
I, ME, that thistle
among them marigolds

3

I stand tall as a thorn
among them roses
like the flaw in a gem
~ ~
maybe not perfect
and yet something
valuable to someone
who sees my worth
worthy of notice
as if important
during the scheme
of everything else
~ ~
so I dream
so I hope
~ ~
within my oddity

I walk
and then
I feel
the motion
of life
within me   ~

I sit
and then
I feel
the stillness
of life
within me   ~

I think
and then
I feel
the being
of life
within me   ~

I

5

my fire
within
its inner
glow
is warm
tender
and
soothing
as well as,
willful
enduring
and
inspiring
~     continually
burning
regardless    ~
despite all
obstacles
or malice
~    wanting
only
to live
not die
~     fighting,
struggling,
going
on and on

6

I am
~    me
what I
think
within
thought
I
will be

me   ~
I am
what I
think
within
thought
I
was
me   ~
I am
what I
within
thought
think
I am
~   me

I see
me
by those
I see   ~
I see you
and also
how you
see me   ~

I see
then    ~

me
seeing
how
I see

7

deep within me
seeded
is a spirit
with a wanting
to be
way more
than to live,
but to go on
~  even if,
my reality
places burden
upon dreams
hope sustains
my vigor
and vim
to overcome    ~
forge a path,
being
an example
so others may
carry on
through will
alone    ~
if nothing else
~     forever more

8

I am nothing but
a little portion
woven into
the magical
tapestry    ~
together
to comprise
all else    ~
I am nothing but
one of many ~
many individuals
trying to know
themselves
while learning
to live
cooperatively
with other aspects
within the physical
whole system
of all else
called Nature    ~
I am nothing but
myself
at least
just enough
through my way
from all else
~    you’ll
discern
and appreciate
who I am    ~   me

peace out

Words by   ~Keith Alan Hamilton~

Dedicated to my muse  –  KAP

I, I’M

I have a perfectionist,
type ‘A’ personality
I lead more than I follow
I think and think all the time
I write any chance I get, my way
I work only to distract
me from my thoughts
I was born
with an empathic sensitivity,
psychically very emotively intuitive,
but I don’t claim to be an empath
I feel a purpose to give more to life
than I take from living life
I have a need to be
intelligently progressive,
rather than having a high IQ
I walk outside in Nature
to invigorate my soul
~ ~
I’m a mystic that’s spiritual
but not religious
I’m not the needy type
and am happy to entertain myself
I’m not the sort to be caged in
or coddled like a baby
I’m in spirit an individualist,
a wanderer
and like my Scottish heritage,
a Mark Twain type
I’m in heart very loyal
and lovingly caring
like my German/Polish mother
I’m more as a communicator
a Ben Franklin,
but can give an opinion
like John Adams
and Alexander Hamilton
I’m politically
a progressively
transitional centrist
with an inherent
Scottish libertarian tendency
I’m not a hovering parent,
having me genetically as a father
is lesson enough
I’m harder on myself than others,
even though I don’t forgive,
I accept through understanding
I’m spiritually a Nature-itarian
more than a humanitarian
I’m just me being me
and I don’t expect others
to get used to me either

peace out

Words by    ~Keith Alan Hamilton~

I tend to be like

I’m not a sage
or even a teacher
I’m a mystic
and a Nature-itarian
And also,
I tend to be
an individualist
~ ~
I’m not famous
or a seeker of fortune
I’m a common
everyday kind of person
And yet,
I tend to be
proactive in my life
~ ~
I’m not an intellectual
or well-educated
I’m a thinker
who ponders
to know Nature
And too,
I tend to tell
my thoughts in words
~ ~
I’m not trying to be
like everyone else
I’m a learner about
living life with all else
And yes,
I tend to be like
~Keith Alan Hamilton~

peace out

Words by   ~Keith Alan Hamilton~

Michigan lives within my soul

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I was born a “Michigander”
or if you prefer the demonym,
“Michiganian,” and yet
I’m not them “Yoopers”
‘cause I was raised
in that Lower Peninsula
this place called Freeland
a “census-designated place”
so few in number, it’s an
“unincorporated community”
within Saginaw County
you’ve heard of Saginaw
named like a bay in Lake Huron
inside the area of “The Thumb”
the same place Lefty Frizzell
of Country music fame
sang about in 1964
that song,
you know reaching #1
4 weeks at the top of the charts,
“Saginaw, Michigan”
Saginaw too, once was
the land territory
“where the Sauk were,” until
the Ojibwe, whose blood
as they say, flows in my veins,
drove them away
~ ~
now I grew up in a township
near a river of the same name
with a bridge once made of steel
well, this river
is called to this day
the “Tittabawassee”
or as the Native Americans
~    First Nations
said it in a treaty,
“Tetabawasink”
another tidbit
connected to the river,
where the name
of the place
Freeland,
was said to have come to be
back in the late 1800’s
the lumber and river men
would frequent a tavern
along this river
owned and operated
by a women,
who was known to all then
as “Mammy Freeland”
~ ~
as far as me
my connection to Freeland
is that my family
around the early 1960’s
moved there on Webster Rd
later living
on a road named Carter
after my ironworker father
purchased the acre parcel
a portion surrounded
or squared in
by flat farmland   ~
as a child and even more so
in teenage years
throughout this
often tilled land
with fields of corn
or navy beans
I was often accompanied
by my best friend
a beagle,
my dog Dino
we together
both enjoyed many hours
walking these country fields
and exploring, learning
about Nature
for it was during
these expeditions
lost to my younger years
that my spirituality
my inner emergent spirit
moved and prodded me
along the journey,
a path to write and relate
to share with others
my lived experience
doing so, through
a process of self discovery
wondering and wandering
emotively, intuitively
as well as psychically
within My Empathic Mysticism
~ ~
upon becoming a man
a young adult
my wandering Scot spirit
overcame the stay put
German/Polish spirit
I did yearn for
way something more
eerily inside,
mentally and physically
I needed to explore things
elsewhere,
in different places
traveling to live in the city
as well as,
flying the states
on an adventure,
going here and there
then eventually,
after awhile
I settled down
out east,
next to the Atlantic Ocean
coming to reside in the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
~ ~
even though, I do
really enjoy New England
my children
and grandchildren
live here with me
and too,
I really have no need
to live any place else
‘cause this is my home now
the spirit of Michigan
the land, the waters
and the peoples
the cultures from the past
till present, still
will always,
live
within my soul

“I was born a ‘Michigander’ or if you prefer the demonym, ‘Michiganian’ and yet, I’m not them ‘Yoopers,’ ‘cause I was raised in that Lower Peninsula in a place called Freeland; I’m mainly Scottish, German/Polish and as my family claims, I’ve got some Ojibwe, also said Ojibwa, Ojibway or referred to as Chippewa or Chippeway flowing in my veins; therefore to this very day, the spirit of Michigan lives within my soul.”

peace out

Words by   ~Keith Alan Hamilton~