Shimmering and Diaphanous

-


I wish, when referring to people
Of a certain age,
News Reporters
For example
Would stop saying
That they are
For example
Sixty years young.

Because that implies
Shame arrives
Right on time
Once you become
Of a certain age.

Now while I will cannot
In good faith fully
Endorse
Aging
For the ease of its
Partnership
Or its general amiable
Nature
I will say this
There is much to love in Act Three
Which is
The best part of
Any clever
Movie
When all the puzzles pieces
Finally comes together
And you find out
Who dunnit
Or if there will be
A happy ever after
Ending
For the characters that
You love.

Throughout our lives
With every challenge
And crushing blow
We have systematically become the keepers of
Our Storm battered
Lighthouse bodies
Whose ancient, Argand lamps
Have escorted us to the safety of the
Shores
Despite those decades of squalls
That ended the innocent lives
of so many dreams
lost to sea.

But that light also
Illuminated our souls
And made purposeful
Our scars
And wrinkles
Which have become the
Critical landmarks
On the
Geographic map
Of who we are
And where we have been.
And it has left us at once
Shimmering and
Diaphanous
Obliterating pretense
Leaving in its wake
Hearts as transparent
As clarity
And as fragile as loss
Which have become
the fountainhead of
Our strength
And the genesis of our faith.

We no longer have
time.
Time has us.

But still, within that tick tick framework
Is our sense of immediacy that
We do good
Be good
Slap away fools
Honor anything that is authentic and beautiful
Stand up for the little guy
And gal
Welcome any dog that you meet
Like a returning war hero
(Thanking them for their service)
Chase the tide like a taffy legged toddler
Be in awe of sunsets like the beach is your death bed
Turn elevator music into you own
Personal Karaoke machine
Never feel guilty about anything that brings
You inexhaustible pleasure
And know that we always
Always
Had everything we wanted
And needed
In those holiest of moments
When we were loved
And courageous enough
to love back.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What Must Babies Think?

-
What must babies think, As they wonder why their Push pram rocket ship Which on most days thrusts them Into the universe of the fiery sky ball and chatter filled park Sits mothballed in the corner Staring at the wall like White-haired bench people Who always seem so Sad and forgotten? What must dogs think The Wal Mart greeters of the Animal world Who use the sign language Of the excitable nose and tail To communicate their borderline insane love for anything that moves When they trot out first thing In the morning like they’re in competition at Westminster Only to discover A show of silent concrete? What must jets think Who usually cannibalize people Until their bellies are full When the only in-flight meal Is a flight crew Two pilots And 900 steerage ghosts Who sit Without hope or destiny In the kind of Quiet That follows anyone Who has ever walked Away from a grave? What must birds think The cocky pigeons The Blue-header vireo Or the Y...
Read more

EVERY WORD

-
Image
Every word Which we have the freedom to use Is a boy Or a girl as fresh as a prom corsage in a pine box In a bone white church That sits high atop a field of markers a million Stars of Bethlehem Many of whom will share the name Unknown. Every word Which we have the freedom to use Is someone’s dream Someone’s child Someone’s love Someone’s pain which the wind has carried off the returning flight of dust and seeds to an unimagincally distant place which is reachable solely by the asphyxiating ache of a parent’s prayer. Every word Which we have the freedom to use is as holy and sanctified as the endless death march miles of desiccated battlefields and lost at sea oceans which stand as memorials constant reminders that words are meant for Declarations of love and independence and Constitutions, Anthems and Pledges of Alleigenace and vows and plays and scientists and philosophers and bibles. There is a reason that our very first word and ou...
Read more

IT'S ONLY WORDS

-
Image
Those of us of a certain age of Aquarius remember that tune. For those of you whose taste runs along the lines of K-Pop, it was a big hit released by The Bee Gees in 1968. “It’s only words and words are all I have, to take your heart away.” According to Robin Gibb, “Words reflects a mood.   It was written after an argument.   Barry had been arguing with someone.   Robin had been arguing with someone and happened to be in the same mood.   The arguments were about absolutely nothing. They were just words.   That is what the song is about: words can make you happy or words can make you sad.” 1968 was a hell of a time in America.     The year began with the Tet Offensive in the midst of the Vietnam War, Martin and Bobby were assassinated, cops and protestors clashed in Chicago and even though the Civil Rights Act was passed in April, a particularly strong showing   by segregationist George Wallace   highlighted the strong e...
Read more