I want to wish everyone a happy new beginning in 2025. I don't know about you, but 2024 was a bumpy ride for me and many other people. We all learned to expect the unexpected and stay alert and deal with a lot of change.
Due to national events, as well as personal adjustments and transformations, life sometimes often demands that we reflect and adapt. Major changes can be scary and exhausting, simultaneously exhilarating and life-affirming. It all depends how we approach our daily dilemma or inspiration. In this long overdue blog I would like to share a few of my poems.
POEMS FOR THE MOMENT
Related to life changes, the first poem in this blog is titled, "Rehab" and it was inspired by my required cardio-rehabilitation after medical interventions. I am so grateful to my family, medical doctors, and caregivers for the care I received that has literally given me a new lease on life. In the past, I have never been one to seek out time exercising in a gym. But, recently I have really transformed my perspective about physical fitness. I have grown to love going to the gym three times a week. I am healthier and stronger than I've been in years. I actually enjoy it and I have a real sense of satisfaction and hope after receiving my certificate of completion. It currently amazes me how it has benefited not just my physical progress, but also my attitude and outlook on life. If you have a chance to remake yourself through physical exercise, I highly recommend that you do so.

REHAB
There’s a gym I now go to three times a week,
Where the humans take on the machines so to speak.
The machines never tire like we humans do,
And show no compassion for what they put us through.
Then just when you think that maybe you’ve won,
They add time or resistance; it’s what they call fun.
So why do we go there week after week?
To be healthy again, that’s what we all seek.
There is one thing in common that sets us apart,
We all had something go wrong with our heart.
So, the individual goal for which we all strive,
Can be simply stated as staying alive.
©2024 Gordon Alexander

I love horses and would like to share one of my earlier reflections on their presence and meaning in culture, and in our imagination. Their indominatable spirit, their partnership with humans, and their soul connection to mythological traditions in world culture have always inspired me. If you enjoy horses, you will enjoy this! Next to dogs, horses have been one of the creatures with close bonds to human history.

Horses
Those old western movies that we saw as a child,
Could make our unbridled imagination run wild.
And the one thing you could count on, of course,
Was that each one of our heroes rode a beautiful horse.
It was the horses that made it magic for me,
Each a majestic breed even a novice could see.
Roy had his Trigger, a gorgeous palomino,
Who to he and Dale was numero uno.
Or Gene and his Wonder Horse Champion,
Who through his movie life were inseparable companions.
The Lone Ranger and Silver who answered to his “Hi Ho” yell,
Who would then sneak away to the music of “William Tell.”
As I think back to my childhood and the time we all spent,
Trying to figure out what in the world “Kemosabe” meant.
Still, it wasn’t the plots that kept us entertained,
Since the stories pretty much were about all the same.
No, it was the horses that dominated our dreams,
Of being a cowboy and living the life and all that it means.
If given one wish we as kids would have agreed,
Riding off in the sunset on your very own steed.
© 2021 Gordon Alexander
Know your limits! It can save your life and relationships. It is not worth going beyond the limits of flexibility or sensible tolerance. It's actually healthy to draw the borderline bewteen enabling behavior, or honoring the checks and balances that build and maintain respect.

Enough
It’s not easy to know when you’ve had enough,
More likely that’s when the going gets tough.
Say your girlfriend nags about all that you do,
And you’re just about ready to tell her, “We’re through!”
Or when crawling along in a long traffic jam,
Fighting that feeling of which car should you ram.
Or strapped in your seat on a coast-to-coast flight,
Being kicked in your seat back to a deranged kids delight.
Or the new client you landed that should mean a bonus for you,
But your boss takes the credit as you sit there and stew.
Even worse, you’ve been dragged to the opera and they’re singing in Russian,
And your head hurts so bad you suspect a concussion.
Situations like these occur in insidious gradations,
Causing enough to erupt as a cosmic reverberation.
What follows for you is a sense of relief,
Knowing no longer will you put up with such grief.
© 2024 Gordon Alexander
Moving Forward?
How do we know if we are moving forward or backwards?
We have a daily choice to spiral up or down. Strength and faith are good guides to the outcome of challenges encountered. It's sometimes hard to recognize the path we are on. Appearances can be misleading; a spiral down might be a spiral up. Here is a poem about what I've learned.

Demons
Some say a demon dwells down deep in your soul,
Lurking in silence to take over control.
What keeps it in check and keeps it at bay,
Is the rightest life that you live every day.
What that means is that you have to stay strong,
And learn to behold what is right from what’s wrong.
Take heart in the fact you are never alone,
Watched over by Him from His heavenly throne.
On our first Superhero you can always depend,
Since the Demons of Darkness are no match for Him!
© 2024 Gordon Alexander
EVERYDAY IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO
HAVE FAITH AND ENJOY THE JOURNEY!
Thank you for visiting my website and reading my blog.
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