THYSELF
THYSELF
We rise like blades of grass
out of the earth’s living loam,
tall stalks of consciousness
free to roam,
to seek a path with heart and
follow it wherever it may go,
and for awhile perchance
thyself to know…
Lucia
The grey page-boy always threatens to slid
over her eye. You can see her pushing it back.
A capacity for delight, her laugh
brilliant, lighting the white table cloth,
the damask napkins, enlivening all
around her.
Eating only half her dinner roll,
pushing the croutons to the side
of her plate, she can tell stories
to grip any listener. Humor
predominates–we all love to laugh.
She gets it about mediation,
the specialness of the meditation group.
Little passes her by, from the latest NPR
report, to the Charlie Rose interview–
this acute mind understands the nuances
of Manchester by the Sea, can share her fears,
vulnerabilities as well as deep joys. She’ll bring
a friend poetry books in the hospital.
Out of all the choices in the distionary,
she knows “unencumbered”
is just the right one to describe
a carefree lifestyle, not burdened
with attachmensts. Crowds clamber for
her readings and smile with recognition
as her words capture their world.
You can see her with a friend at lunch,
they share with passion what engages
them. There’s an electric connection between
their heads leaning toward one another
across the table. Do we only imagine sparks
of energy fly off their heads?
You make the coffee syrup make the tea
digestible make the cookies and cake guilt-
free you keep me from extending my
presence in this world anymore past the
top of my jeans than it already is keep my
tooth sweet keep my tongue pleasant
enough to refrain from screaming curses
at a dull bland pantry but are you worth
the knives in the eye the hammer in the
skull the blinding rainbow sphere-shaped
cubic gatherings of kaleidoscopic neon
are you worth the temporary paralysis
the permanent terror the clusters the
migraines the spiraling stomach are
your charms worth your vices is a little
less me worth a lot more pain?
After a ten-day trip
Messages on the machine connected to my land line
The number I share with the public
The phone I never answer
The phone that receives both wanted and unwanted calls
Messages left and frustrated hangups
Also getting unwanted calls on my more private cell
Not answering unfamilar numbers
Wanting to be accessible but not to everyone
Here’s a thought: A phone that can detect intentions, both good and bad
An annoying ring tone for unwanted calls
A pleasant tone for welcome ones
The same for doorbells
An obnoxious bell sound for door-to-door sales people and those pushing their brand of “good news”
A warm friendly sound for welcome visitors
Are we already wired with that kind of radar internally?
Maybe we were at one time
But then we got those conflicting messages:
Trust everyone, trust no one
Can’t wrap this one up in a tidy package
So just going to leave it there. . .
For all my evangelical friends who are
long on fervor but short on discernment
I’ve prepared a quick and easy guide
for sizing up each candidate.
Find a modern-language version
of First Corinthians chapter 13
and insert the name of the person
in place of the word “love”.
Like this:
____is patient
____is kind
____does not envy
____does not boast
____is not proud
____is not rude
____is not self-seeking
____keeps no record of wrongs
____does not KNXXHHHH!!!
(sorry, that was me spraying beer out my nose.
I can’t do this any more.)
