Author: Jeff Shapiro

So, all differences with myself are settled…
Beautiful are the verses…
Every kiss different from the other…
So simple…
All it took was for me to forgive myself.

I no longer need to hold my breath…
So beautiful is the sunrise…
Like a single drop of sweetness…
That quenches all my guilt.

This is the best kind of truth…
Appearing like a golden green…
Changing with every breath…
Becoming one with the earth, the universe…
And most importantly, myself!

However, it won’t heal my scar tissue…
The trappings of my past…
Free me from those downward reaching tentacles…
It will open my prison cell…
But only I have the power to walk out.

Forgiving yourself is powerful…
It can help you take a compliment seriously…
Separate reality from illusion…
And give you the compassion you need to be free.

I love you,

Annie

You look away as if you have a secret…
It always catches me by surprise…
I have grown weary waiting for you to tell me…
To curious to stop trying.

Go ahead and speak it…
It will allow you to stand a little taller…
And allow you to stop pretending that you are less than you are…
Why do you think I will not understand?

If you like, I can tell you a secret…
Maybe it will allow you to open to me…
I buried a bone under the rose bush…
I took the bone from Shortie when he was taking a poop…
“Whew!” I feel a whole lot better.

Share with me about, “Way back when…”
Maybe it is just a fixation in your mind…
Or no longer has any meaning…
Something that you have created that is not even you.

For me, now that I’ve shared my most innermost secret…

It is time to give that bone back to Shortie.

I love you,

Annie

I know you are wondering what is going on in my little head…
The truth is not much…
But you always want me to be honest with you…right?
So, today, and only today I’m going to let you in on my latest obsession.

Here goes….

I’m in the mood for a new pair of boots…
I saw them in a showroom window…
But I’m a little short of cash…
Because I’ll have to buy 2 pair.

I won’t let the salesperson persuade me to alligator or lizard…
They are bad omens…
Leading me to strange and dangerous places…
Perhaps to an ambush from one or both creatures.

Hmmm… the fragrance of new leather…
It makes my heart rejoice…
New for only a moment…
Then the smell of green swamp juice forever after.

They will make me stand a little taller…
Be a model for all short pups near and far…
I will take them to where the boundaries lie…
And ask them to go a little further.

My boots will be arched and chiseled…
Be the source of all good times…
There is so much more going on in this little brain of mine…
But today, I’m in the mood for a new set of boots.

I love you,

Annie

I am not afraid…
I am certain of what I feel inside me…
It always reminds me of my blessings…
So that when I am troubled, I can shift my attention.

My spirit has smart and watchful eyes…
Helping me to distinguish an Angel from a Tempter…
Truth from illusion…
Like two colored beads on a thin, delicate thread.

It leaves my life room for every color…
Helps me to forget all my bad performances…
Reminds me that I am designed to sing…
And that my story will end in the sky.

It tells me that I will not be left, like a branch after high water…
Brittle, battered and bubbled…
That I am like the tip of a fountain pen…
Whose ink will never run dry.

I am not afraid…
I just need to stop thinking my treasures will save me…
Take a deep breath and hesitate a moment…
And understand that I am a miracle, connected to eternity.

I love you,

Annie

This world is not an empty place…
It is crisp, and bright…
Her charming smile has not disappeared…
How do I know this?
Because each morning She enters through the door of my heart.

Mostly I just watch it…
Looking into the eyes of a river…
Testing the colors of the sun…
Alone and attentive.

I say hello to each of Her creatures…
Everyone wants to be my friend…
All refreshingly honest…
Wandering inside my circle from the dance floors edge.

One question…Do you want to dance with me?
You will become softer and younger…
Become completely genuine…
Because you will become part of this world’s fullness.

I know that sometimes the world can be hard and cold…

I can see where Her claws have pierced you…
Know that you are shivering from more than the cold…
Let me show you the warmer side…
Because this world is not an empty place.

I love you,

Annie

The senses are pretty things…
The secret voices of the truth…
Being able to capture the sun and the moon…
With just a single glance.

The senses live their own lives…
Cutting through the dim and mundane…
Feeling fire turn from white to red…
Smelling mama’s cooking from so far away.

They know that a rainbow needs its distance…
A sky to stretch its arms and legs…
A background for its red, yellow, amber and violet stripes…
A perfect equilibrium.

Yep, the senses are pretty things…
To experience them, try dwelling on nothing…
Listen only to their voices…
They will tell you a magnificent story.

I know because I live this way every day.

I love you,

Annie

This is just our secret…okay?
Glistening through the sparkle of our eyes…
So, watercolored, it is the color of light itself…
Yep, there is a genuine love here.

Together, we are all we need…
You no longer need to veil your tears…
You can sniffle yourself dry…
And stop trying to hold back that gushing mountain spring.

Wait, the inexpressible is about to be whispered…
It comes out with an endless ease…
Any child (or pup) can understand it…
And now, so can we.

We are a part of each other…
The moon and the stars living in our hearts…
Captured in the amber light…
True friends.

This is our secret….okay?
We can share everything with each other…right?
So, whenever you need a strong friend you can always count on…
I’ll be right here.

I love you,

Annie

Does it really matter?
Why, continue to wrestle with an angel you can never defeat?
Why be under the roaring, racing waters?
For what?
 
I have seen that trigger pulled before…pow!!
The anger, hurt feelings, reacting the same each time…
Do you really want to fix yourself? 
Chuckle and just let go!
 
For me, jealousy is my trigger…
I see my butler holding or petting a pretty pup…
I think, how can this be happening?
Will he ever love me again?
So many hurt feelings.
 
It is better to walk through this world child-like…
Without distrust…
Everything full of joy…
Watch how water flows off a goose’s back…
Seeing, how nature has figured it out.
 
So, let’s make a deal…
How about we begin to recognize our triggers…
Remembering that life always returns to normal…
So, does it really matter?
In most cases, no!
 
I love you,
 
Annie

With a gold ticket in my pocket…
I’m off, following a gravel road that goes on and on…
The mountains are coming down to meet me…
Alone with myself, my deeds, and my beliefs.

I like myself, so I enjoy my own company…
This allows me to listen to myself with a listening ear…
A dozen different notes of the symphony all at once…
Without an intermission.

Prying into secrets and taking my chances…
Cooled by Her invisible breath…
Learning something new with every step on the path…
Without even trying.

What is this gold ticket, anyway?
It allows me to remove all the camouflage…
To be transparent and truthful…
So that the Annie that I am now, is the Annie I am supposed to be.

It gives me the breath of life…
Be, like the pollen to the flower…
Helps me to see the blues, the yellows, and greens…
Be like a boat floating on the blue.

Sound good? Guess what?

You have a golden ticket too.

I love you,

Annie

Sometimes I wish I could live by a creek in the woods…
I’d spend my mornings counting the white stones beneath the crystal-clear water…
After, I’d swim in the deep still pool beneath the falls…
Let go of everything…
Be nothing but, Annie.

I would learn how to move in the forest…
Never snapping a twig…
Never disturbing a leaf…
Find my way through the walls, the turns, the dead-ends.

I would discover the force behind the flower…
Bathe in that cool earthy smell…
Be rid of my divided self…
Life would taste so good I’d have to take a second bite.

I would no longer have to wrinkle my forehead and squint my eyes…
Yep, I squint when I worry…
The deeper the squint the deeper the worry…
My mind falling into one trap after another.

It would be so natural I would barely have to think…
Because I would no longer be the pup that I was in the city…
I could breathe from the top of my head to the bottom of my toes…
Yep, I would love to live by a creek in the woods.

Until it is dark and I hear the howling, the snapping of twigs, a hundred green eyes.

Mama!!!!!

I love you,

Annie