Why should you care what others 

think about you if you know 

 

the pure core of you 

without pretense nor defense 

of your high value 

 

that others may misconstrue. 

Be confident and brilliant 

 

in your life’s ascent 

to the highest and strongest 

your pure core displays.

 

[Grace]

 

So, you play poker to hone 

your skill to deceive and sit 

 

upon The Queen’s throne 

of the world’s supreme swindler. 

Your pride groans beneath 

 

the heavy weight of the coins 

joined to guide the tide you ride 

 

as you journey through 

the rise and fall of your lies 

that define your soul.

[Shey]

 

You’re an unsympathetic, 

hard-nosed critic of values, 

 

you seem to have set 

in stone, deeply carved, clearly, 

without much regret, 

 

to beam the righteous bright light 

on sinners and on angels. 

 

You fail to yield to 

the field of worldly science. 

Laws of motion speak 

 

to energy’s troughs and peaks 

as its waves of transference 

 

flow through tangibles’ 

interactive performance 

of their existence 

 

that is fleeting along the 

cosmic scale seeking progress 

 

to harness a gain 

in applicable precepts

that architect paths 

 

toward an enlightened habit 

of always choosing wisely.

You’ve been studying 

martial arts for years dazzling 

your peers who cheer your 

 

battles and many conquests 

in tournaments upon more

 

tournaments that test 

your courage, skill and resolve 

to involve yourself 

 

in challenges that assess 

your competence from time spent.

 

[Grace]

 

You’re the blame, mother. 

Your claim that women are more 

powerful than men 

 

based on their ability 

to naturally birth life 

 

while males merely 

provide seeds cavalierly 

that reside inside 

 

our warm moist wombs ready 

to exhume the fully formed 

 

humans entombed in 

womanly incubators 

that comport the warmth,

 

harmony and all other 

indicators for healthy 

 

developmental, 

robust growth instrumental 

for the survival 

 

of the homo sapien 

species whose men then swore to 

 

abhor abduction 

of their women and, hence, their 

intense protection. 

Early on my upbringing 

was the singing of high praise 

 

to be raised with strong 

self-reliance as my soul’s 

core essence forging 

 

strict self-determination 

that irks your consternation 

 

at my willfulness.

 

[Shey]

 

So, you remember that we 

did Tai Chi each day 

 

when you were very small and 

not walled off to my best thoughts 

 

of what ought to be 

fun for you and me to see 

the value gained in 

 

the common adventures shared 

by mothers and their daughters 

 

as pretty feathers 

to wear in their hats that will 

attract the fond gaze 

 

of males to interact with 

fine beauties, but I wished to 

 

seize your young heart that 

sought to please your loving Mom 

to believe in your 

core strength that would stabilize 

the length of your journey to 

 

be confidently 

wise in your self-reliance. 

As a consequence 

 

your willfulness boasts both mine 

and your pride in the success 

 

we must address toward 

your self-determination. 

We still do Thai Chi 

 

separately but now you’re 

much more internally moved 

 

with personalized 

rhythmic flows that show drastic 

advances inward 

 

and forward toward your controlled 

assertive place in your space.

 

[Grace]

 

So, you do approve 

of my stubbornness to hold 

you accountable?

[Shey]

 

Stubbornness, no, steadfastness, 

when you’re roughly confronted? 

 

Yes, absolutely, 

because you’re of age where you 

must behave well or 

 

be propelled into heaven 

or hell compelled to react 

 

according to the 

personnel inhabiting 

the field that must yield 

 

harmony or rivalry. 

It is easy to see that 

 

you took to Tai Chi 

with such enthusiasm 

that Jiu-Jitsu wooed 

 

your vision as the item 

to seat in tandem with your 

 

chore for more overt 

internal harmony freed 

openly with ease 

and low physical effort. 

But, why now learn Karate?

 

[Grace]

 

No discomfort plagued 

my concern to turn my skills 

to learn Jiu-Jitsu 

 

that morphed more into Judo’s 

focus to use any foe’s 

 

strength against themselves 

by those who would oppose my 

harmonious state 

 

to erase my private place 

by invading my calm space 

 

from which I relate 

to the events of my life 

that represents my 

 

true core that I can’t ignore. 

For sure, you assured that growth. 

 

Gandhi’s ahimsa 

which I perceive denotes more 

about reduction 

 

of himsa (to harm) than to 

escape any harming acts.