Let It Flow

sketch by doug smith


Can you tell when you're holding back? Or, are your senses dulled when things get dull and the sparkling shine fades away?

Creativity can act like water: sometimes we need to prime the pump to get it flowing. Let it flow. Move it forward. There will be surprises. There will be storms. I really do believe that the best thing you will ever create has not yet been created. It awaits your initiative, your verve, your motion.

You can't help but be creative -- no need to hold back. 

-- doug smith


Better than not perfect

 "One brilliantly creative idea a day is all that it takes, to undo a hundred thoughtless mistakes."

-- doug smith


five years

 thru five years

we've danced daringly with many

diverse partners

crept thru bedroom windows of 

a few starched spirits

and spilled a few

tears of our own


after five years

kids become searching adults,

your face remains soft and warm

and my hands remain calloused but curious

(a learning, yearning, burning process

breathing Spring,

simmering Summer

fearless Fall)


in five years

it appears:

some dreams last longer than others

and life's road turns faster with eyes open

as it rolls on revealing (with a

wink) that some cycles and hearts

remain synchronized, and that dance steps 

echo softly and that i love you still.





douglas brent smith


some lies

pacing thru the time tripped delicately on

edges of faceless fancies freed from the

rushing resentment of relentless realities


battering upon a daring door of dancing

chances taken and rebuttals received

answers mistaken and desire deceived.







douglas brent smith

 

Cloud Posing as a Pipe

 

sketch by doug smith

Sketch: Cloud Posing as a Pipe, from journal #10, cry Wolf (1977) douglas brent smith


secret dreams

so what if

your hair style

is three years

ahead

of the trends

and you will

not regard fashion

because we are

above and

beyond all that

caught between

generations

and

secret dreams

"your mustache

tickles,"

she said.



-- doug smith

 

that shirt

soaring up here

on a colombian

vacation 

looking up to

find you 

straight ahead

looking down

eyes narrow

ears open

for sounds

lending a touch

of thin

but absolute

meaning

strong enough to

stand

wearing someone

else's 

shirt.





douglas brent smith