I Come Back

to your waiting arms
and put my ear
to your heart
and breathe
and feel safe.

From that supported space
I can explore
and risk
and grow,
knowing I can always go
back to your waiting arms.

Margaret Dubay Mikus
Copyright © 1996

Individuals

Some times
in certain slant
of light,
one can see
individual
snowflakes,
full in detail
rich in contrast
with the white mass.

Margaret Dubay Mikus
Copyright © 1996

Cast Off

I am ready
to cast off

cast off coats
cast off cold
cast off the mask
of the outcast.

I am ready
to cast off

loose the line
rev the motor
slip into gear
and go.

Margaret Dubay Mikus
Copyright © 1996

Oh the Webs

we weave
to catch
the morning sun,

glistening with
drops of dew.
Webs of glowing
threads, webs

to hold in strongest wind
webs to catch,
webs to live in,
to deceive or

to grieve
what is lost. Webs
to patch and finally,
webs to leave.

Margaret Dubay Mikus
Copyright © 1997

To Dance Is to Be

(Thank You Hubbard Street Dance)

To dance is to fly
is to sing with every muscle

is to be fluid
no waste

is to be rhythmic
and graceful.

To dance is to cry
out and in

with every muscle
with every grin or grimace.

To dance is to celebrate
to let out the gift within,

to shout with joy
in every movement,

to pair or part
to dance alone

to be with great company.
To dance is to sing,

joy and sorrow in every muscle,
to be fully human…

to be soaring light.

Margaret Dubay Mikus
Copyright © 1997

Idle

The wear and tear
from always
being in gear

is slow, steady,
inevitable.

Once in a while
or even regularly,
just slip out

and idle.

Margaret Dubay Mikus
Copyright © 1996

We Are Not All Like Corn

planted in neat even rows
in newly tilled spring soil,

to poke through green and
come to full height by fall,
to be harvested then all at once.

Some are winter wheat,
plant late, harvest late.
Some grow wild in unlikely places

in forests or fields, and would wither
in the glare of hot summer sun.
Some grow in the desert, some in marsh,

each plant has its own beauty and utility,
its own cycle of sowing and blooming.
As do we, could we see it.

Margaret Dubay Mikus
Copyright © 1996

Bird Poop

I don’t feel
that I have cancer:
not just physically,
that surgery
successfully removed
abnormal cells…

but mentally; I am not
“a person with cancer.”
Cancer is something that
is happening to me.

If a pigeon poops on your head
you don’t become
“a person with bird poop.”
It’s just something that happened to you.

You clean up,
tell your tale
and move on.

Margaret Dubay Mikus
Copyright © 1996

Why

do we usually
have to be desperate
before we are willing
to make a change?

Why do we have to be
so miserable for so long
and even then many
won’t make a change?

Try it, you may like it.
If not, change again.
Put in some thought and heart
and just make a change.

Any change will do to start.
We are designed to grow and change.
Our first two dozen years
are filled with change
and then…

many settle for what they’ve got,
inside and out, and only grow
at the midline. Be bold,
take a risk, make a change.

I dare you-
O.K., double dare you.

Margaret Dubay Mikus
Copyright © 1996

I May Be Asked

How did you accomplish so much
I may be asked?

No one said I couldn’t
or if they did,

I didn’t hear
or didn’t listen,

and so I went where I was lead
by fun and energy and enthusiasm.

Margaret Dubay Mikus
Copyright © 1997

I Am Not/I Am

I am not a particularly good Susi
or Barbara or Stephen.

I am not a wonderful Alexandra
or Virginia or Dorothy.

I am not a terrific Tom
or Bill or Bob or Lucia.

I am not a marvelous Cheryl
or Lauren or Pamela or Karen.

I am not a superb Theresa
or Hildegard or Mary or Blake or Ron.

I am …
a truly magnificent Me.

Margaret Dubay Mikus
Copyright © 1996