Plays Nice With Others?!

“The greatest wealth is to live content with little.” ~ Plato

holding fragile earth ~d nelson

 

Out on dirt & paved playgrounds
children & beasts play side by side.
Playing with & without regard
to textures, colors & shapes
sounds, smells, tastes,
sunshine, rain, wind,
dust, scrapes, fashion.
Engaged in their
sometimes joyful
lighthearted, yet always
serious, perhaps penultimate
game of marbles.

Collecting & losing
one’s or the other’s marbles
offers exhilaration
amidst laughter,
squeals & tears
of potential winning,
losing & obsolescence.
Players rigorously challenged
living by teacher’s lesson
of finding balance
with the 3 basic rules,
or marks of existence;
impermanence, unsatisfactoriness
& non-self (inter-connectedness of all phenomenon).

children playing marbles ~ fotolia

Wholeheartedly some
play cooperatively,
happy for their life
with each mindful breath
in each precious moment,
for connection & interactions;
while other’s show
blinder-wearing,
goal-oriented,
bullying
competitiveness.
claiming their need,
even their right
to achieve, to win,
placing their well-being
above the well-being of others,
asserting survival
of the fittest,
by whatever means necessary
as our continued destiny.

Mother abides, saying
in her own subtle
& not-so-subtle ways
if you children & beasts
cannot be considerate,
exist together in harmony
& play well with others,
all other living beings,
you all may lose your marbles
sooner than later.
Now come inside, wash up
& offer grace before eating.

play gently ~d nelson

not only marbles

heating ice

falling from sky

playing around -slate_com

“You carry Mother Earth within you,
She is not just outside of you.
Mother Earth is not just your environment.” ~ Thich Nhat Hanh