Kindness
An act of kindness is
a contagious thing.
A pandemic will scour the world with unflinching change,
but it needn’t be an ugly thing.
Blurred eyes from warm tears
Texting you the whole way home
Never have I ever
Had a friend quite like you
The glimpse of sun in the morning
The tightness in your throat before you laugh
The satisfaction of laying down after a long day
Holding on to you
Like you’re a lifeline
Take me as I am
Just like I take you as you are
There are too many pictures to count.
They can’t be disposed of by clicking, but only
By sifting
Perusing
Cherishing
Remembering
Tossing ones that are blurry or duplicates
Or contain people no one can identify
Places we don’t recognize.
Memories that have no home.
We don’t know what we’re doing & the raft seems impossibly light, far too flimsy to carry us. But when we push off from the riverbank, things go well enough. Soon the current catches us and we’re off, no paddling needed, the water quickening with each bend of the river. There are rapids to negotiate, the roar of the white water getting louder & louder. At last we come to the edge of a vast waterfall and plunge right over it into an even vaster sky, weightless, gliding, holding hands as we shout with joy indistinguishable from terror into the sudden silence.
Then the earth comes up to meet us & it seems we fall asleep. Time passes. Hours, certainly. Maybe days, months, years.
When I wake, finally, on that stony shore, you & the raft are gone, though I can see your footprints leading into the water. I wait & I wait & you don’t come back. After a while I sit on the bank with my eyes closed, my head in my hands, wondering what I’ll do when night comes.
At last I open my eyes & can just see, far upriver, the place we came from. I get to my feet, & because it seems like the thing to do, I stand at the edge & wave. Then I turn downstream & walk on, picking my way through the rocks.
nice little planet
blue seas
brown land
simple atmosphere
lifeforms detected:
Sechi forms: .003 to 22.001
nothing special
mineral and particle rich:
aging home star
alert: asteroid belt between planets 4 and 5:
1.002 chance of impacts to level 3
sentience levels:
hilariously primitive
could be amusing
to land and engage–
give them something
to think about in those
confused brains
but
it’s almost lunch time–
perhaps I’ll stop if I’m ordered
through this sector
a second time
driving home realizing
this
this, very specifically, is Kentucky
acres, miles
farmland
horses grazing
cows roaming
fences of wood, well kept
stones piled in an organized fashion, firm as years roll by
if I lived near the coast, I would want to see the water, regularly
not let days go by without the sound of the ocean
just the same, I allow myself a daily journey
green ground, blue skies, winding road
a sense of place, oh so valuable
healing I did not realize I needed
I thought of Grandma
and her simple desserts
as I simmered rhubarb
down to sauce
after adding just enough sugar
to maintain its tart character
and cut the pucker a bit.
I will pour it over
vanilla ice cream
and serve it
to my very good friends
at the table
my grandma gave me.
i am as light as a tumbleweed
Our footprints heal over, a forest rising where we have been.
Where they won’t heal, lakes appear.
People no longer fit inside the houses of their skins
and spill out into sunlight to snack on sunflower seeds.
They laugh and lick the salty grime off their fingers,
and kiss with a fury, as if for one last time.
Even so, Easter comes, with or without the holy fire.
The icons stay untouched, no candles lit.
But in spring, the young won’t do without
their kisses, fire, and sunflower seeds.
And beneath the bright sun of these holy days,
a poisoned blossom opens – dark, unseen.
Until someone close to you – an enemy, a lover –
rises from their chair and leaves.
And our houses turn into gardens. Then to temples.
Down the street, someone rides past on a donkey.
You won’t know who until he steps inside
and sits at your table – this ungodly feast.
In the hollow morning, a bird call rings out.
The last fat of the earth melts away.
Can a person learn to stoop lower,
to need less and take less?
Go on now– try to step back
into the shrinking skin of your shadow.
Walk through your neighborhood.
Marvel at all the lives that are not yours,
that you know nothing about.
Feel grateful for the ability to imagine
worlds beyond your own.
Unclench your fists.
Let your fingers spread wide,
blood rushing to the tips.
Listen to the sound of the locust
in the trees beyond the road.
Don’t think of their chittering as a plague of noise,
but as a reprieve from the chattering of your mind.
Delight in your neighbor’s garden
where they strung up a disco ball and fairy lights
on the lattice for their pole beans.
Revel in the idea of the nocturnal creatures–
the raccoons, the possums, the bats, and the owls–
who will romp under the dancing lights
of a moonlit mirrorball.
Consider the lilies, the irises, and the pansies
as you make your way down the road.
Let that jolt of nostalgia hit you
as you pass a small playground and remember
when slides and swings were sufficient entertainment.
Don’t worry about whether any of this is a poem–
whether these words are “the best words in the best order.”
Don’t fuss and fret about a future you cannot predict.
Soothsayers never soothed anyone anyway.
Because you see, the only way to slow entropy,
the only way to impede the speed of time
is to get close to your life.
Become a microscope and press your life
between the slides of time, and behold the endless
cells of love that surround you
and say, “Thank you.”
