Around the block

I know this girl named Grace
has her master's degree in social work
but can't quite make it work
so she washes dishes day in and day out clever awkwardness and social dissonance aside this is upwards of the best thing
in her life. stepping up to the plate each day trying to make her world a better place
even though sometimes she feels
she can't keep pace
Called back from the edge
at least once a week
things may never get better
but at least its steady
I have a friend named Bill
worth well over million
years before the construction
of his financial estate
he attempted to take a leg and a life
with a chainsaw to ensure his wife
never worked another day in her life
had to make it look like an accident
tripped slipped and missed the artery
now he walks with a limp and a prothstetic from the hip down.
tells me that was the catalyst
he didn't know he was searching for
Nothing like a near death experience
to make one actually feel alive
to strive for more
than what we think is possible.
I got a buddy named Buddy
travels to Jerusalem twice a year
to see his kids six and eleven
I ask him what its like to fly all the way across the word he tells me
of the plight of Palestine
how Americans dont realize how good
they have it
how he wishes things were different between him and his wife
he's a knife salesman but never cuts corners his motto is cutting corners
is how you get hurt
and why would you want to hurt yourself unless you're into that sort of thing
I shared a room with a woman named candy
Shot methamphetamine and cocaine
for fourteen years  
speaks her truth
with the confidence of a thousand gods says a twelve step program saved her life gave her back the ability
to be a mother child and wife
now she spends her days not surviving
but living striving like a lotus
from the mud into the light
says I put in a lot of work
but Gods the one who saved my life
I know a man named Paul
a world war two vet, spiritual giant,
and asmahtic
doesn't talk much
but when he does everyones sure to listen because he might mention
fighting in the pacific or the three presidents and a queen with which he occupied space
I always enjoy when he speaks
especially of his ten years in Tibet
living as a monk
always seems to drop these little gems
out of nowhere
or perhaps there a long time coming
Paul once whispered
we are all spiritual beings having a human experience all searching for that moment where we are so fully connected to what we are to each other to the ether or the universe for fucks sake just love yourself and you can't help but love one another