There are more to words than meets the eye. Words have hidden meanings and sometimes dubious definitions. Words can be contagious,
with generic sayings twisting in the wind. Words help you prepare for life and give definition to everything you do. Some words are more
qualified than others. Some words distract, and some words are home runs that help you enumerate your life.
The following sets of words are designed to illuminate life and possibly set you free from life’s entanglements—especially words of
wisdom and damnation. Words that are meant to haunt you and keep you on your path. And words that set the world on fire because of their incendiary devices.
I have chosen the following words to help others prepare for life. The initial words set the mood, then traverse to frankness and understanding.
These are my words after all—use them if you dare. Plunder them if you feel it is called for, but by no means should you ignore them.

Intricacies of Reading a
Compass
You wear it on your wrist
like a watch.
Instead of telling time it
tells direction—
something needed in this
foregone world.
You gaze longingly in the
route you are headed.
Will it be home or some
newly recognized land
mass?
You pray for the homeyness and yearn for
memories
once forgotten and lying
dormant in your path.
Loneliness can be quite an
obstacle
that your compass fails to
read.
Suddenly the little arrow
that determines your path
starts spinning wildly
and you lose all sense of
direction.
You are on a path of no
return and you hope
for some revelation to
prepare you for your
outcome.
You look up in desperation
and find to your pleasure
that you are home.
The compass never fails to
give you direction—
and you wish for one that
reads people.

My Father’s Clothes
Sometimes I feel like
I am wearing my
father’s clothes.
They are uncomfortable
and too big for me.
The sleeves grab at my
hands,
encasing them in wool
or gabardine.
They make me sad,
as though he is living
his life through me—
though he passed oh so
many
years ago.
I feel like he never
passed the mantle
of his love on to me.
And I must wear his
shroud
like some ancient Egyptian
cloak,
suffocating my life
through his life.
As his life continuum
continues
beneath my consciousness,
willing me away from my
own destiny,
It makes me sad that he
could
not just walk that solitary
path
without taking me with
him

A Short Piece on Neglecting the Spirit
I woke up the last couple of mornings with something niggling at me that just would not let go. I could not totally
put my finger on it and frankly the thought, though persistent, just kept jamming my brain like nobody’s business.
We get so caught up in everyday business that life is just going bonkers. It is like being in a civil war with ourselves
and our friends.
I have people who I haven’t talked to in years because our politics don’t mix. I hate politics (about as much as I
hate preaching), nevertheless I feel caught up in it whether I like it or not. Bottom line, we are responsible for where
we are at—either diligently creating it or ignoring and neglecting our current situation. So, like I said, I hate the
idea of preaching, yet here I am doing just that.
Here’s the point of all this: we take so much for granted. When we turn the tap and expect water to pour out hot
or cold. When we turn on the toaster and hope it doesn’t burn our bagel. That the guy cruising along at 75 mph on
the highway doesn’t just ram into you. We just take so much for granted that we seem to forget that we created this.
We are part of this majestic creation and contribute to it. We create every danged moment of it.
When you put everything to the side and really look at our lives, we just might be thankful for it. How much
would it take to thank the clerk for helping you out, or simply acknowledge the driver in the next lane over with a
smile? I don’t want to ever take anyone or anything for granted. And no, this is not the result of a near-death experience. It is more the result of a near-life experience.
Personally, I like that small-town viewpoint of saying hi and hello to folks as you walk by. You would be surprised
at how much good you will do. There is nothing better than acknowledging the existence of another being

A Lesson in Acknowledging Another
Look them in the eyes.
Don’t flinch.
Look away the injustice.
Look away the temptation.
Look away the pretense.
Look away…
Brother to brother.
Sister to sister.
Brother to sister.
Sister to brother.
Acknowledge their existence.
Smile.

Four Balances of Love
The ancient Greeks speak of three different categories of love: Eros, Philia, and Agape. Eros is the feeling of love that exists
between two people. It is the type of love that burns with intensity. After Eros has burned itself out, Philia must be present for
the relationship to endure. Philia is the kind of love felt between friends, the kind that commands mutual respect. Agape is one
step beyond. It is one of complete and total love, and manifestations of such unconditional love, enlightenment, are rare. To
this balance I add the final measure of Infinity, slightly different from the others as it should be.

EROS
the passion ever
embers
bright always
dawning sun
escaping
mist of salvation
PHILIA
the bond ever
strengthens
affinity always
magnetic reply
escaping
mist of touch
AGAPE
the distance ever
dissolves
contact always
immediate universe
escaping
mist of time
INFINITY
the love
we have without
looking
where the mist
clears
beyond friendship
into totality

About the Author

For his entire professional career, Larry Jaffe has been using his art to
promote human rights. He was PoetIn-Residence at the Autry Museum, a featured poet in Chrysler’s Spirit
in the Words poetry program, co-founder of Poets for Peace,
helped spearhead the United Nations Dialogue among Civilizations through Poetry project, former Poet
Laureate Youth for Human Rights, Florida Beat Poet Laureate, Pushcart
Nominee, and the recipient of the Saint Hill Art Festival’s Lifetime of
Creativity Award, along with other awards.
He was recently awarded the Lifetime New Generation Beat Poet Laureate. Poet in Residence Jack Kerouac House in St. Pete. Jaffe recently started handing out poems to strangers as part of his The World Needs More Poetry Project. He is the Editor-In-Chief of BeatLife Magazine and Poetix Poetry News, Editor Florida Bards anthology. He has six books of poetry: Unprotected Poetry, Anguish of the Blacksmith’s Forge, One Child Sold, In Plain View, 30 Aught 4, Sirens Man without Borders and the Abolitionist Poetry Handbook.
Only Shadows Breathe a book of poetry noir and mystery is his latest book.

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