brian shivers

I Stand (a poem) No need to wonder  where I stand.  I stand  with and for humanity;  the humanity of each one. No matter  the labels  they choose to wear or the labels  often thrust upon them . . . gender, sex, orientation, identity, race, ethnicity, creed, social location. I will never do it perfectly. I surely will often fail, but I will always try to stand  with and for humanity – yours, hers, theirs, his, and mine. bshivers

I remember you . . .    the way you laughed;    the way you lived;    the way you loved. I remember you . . .     the way you stood;    the way you served;    the way you sacrificed.  I remember you . . .     today;    tomorrow;    always.

I do not expect the world to become that which I imagine it should be. I expect that I will live into a world for which I long; a generous space full of grace, justice, and mercy where all beloved souls - them, him, and her - are truly free. — bshivers

hope strikes fear in the heart of any oppressor in the soul of all tyranny hope will not be stilled  hope cannot be silenced   hope refuses to yield    hope shan’t be vanquished     hope continues to advance for hope is legion where any one f                           a                             l                               l                                 s two take her place there is no end to which hope is afraid to go in patient endurance hope will be victorious — bshivers

Humanity, that one thing we all have in common, cannot be stolen by one person’s angry words, hateful rhetoric, violent actions, as long as we stand in solidarity for each other’s humanity together.   — bshivers

Ordinary people living ordinary lives    everyday. In the midst of the ordinary living      of these ordinary days, in the middle of the miraculously mundane, the spectacularly simple is found to be everything once longed for     and thought beyond reach.  But this ordinary life -     the rising, the resting;    the laughter, the tears;    the gaining, the losing;    the lost, the found;    the valleys, the mountains;    the goodbyes, the hellos;    the walking, the falling;    the losses, the victories;    the regrets, the satisfaction - is the sacred journey, the magnificent human experience. Ordinarily extraordinary     in nearly every way.    — bshivers 

gaze  eternity    found in the eyes       of each and          everyone. no matter    the hue; no matter    the shape; no matter    the size eternity    dwells       behind those eyes.   — bshivers

In this moment,       make a commitment to no more. No more       turning away;       shouting;       noise;       voices;       negativity;       curses;       hiding. Hear the universe       speak her truth; feel the rhythms       in her song; breathe the intensity       of her message. You are       worth it;       magnificent;       beautiful;       fierce;       complete;       enough;       you. That is everything;       there is no more.   — bshivers