Sorry Mary Oliver

 When I am in the city

When I am downtown in the city
especially near the towering buildings
the street vendors, the traffic, and the crowds ,
they give off such hints of filth.
I would almost say that we all deserve to die.

I am so distant from hope 
in which goodness, and discernment,
ever existed in the world
so I walk quickly, holding my bag tightly.

Around me the throngs stir in their fast pace
and call out, “Tourist, go home.”
The disdain flows with each word.

And they call again, “It’s simple,” they say,
“you have to keep moving,

don’t look up at the buildings, don’t block

people trying to get somewhere, and 

don’t be afraid to eat on the street.”

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

We Released a Sea Turtle Today

Image
In Memory of Michael Joseph Westergren We released a sea turtle today. It did not hurry. The waves waited. It moved with slow resolve, across sand  that burned underfoot, toward a home  it never stopped carrying inside itself. Not once did it turn back. It breathed the air, as all sea turtles must. Like a promise held  too long, then finally, let go. We watched the tide claim it one breath,  its shape folding into water, as if  it had never been anything else. They say Kemp’s Ridleys nearly disappeared, strangled by nets they couldn’t see, forgotten  by systems they trusted. Still, they returned. Still, they nested. Still, they swam. So did Mike, a man with a heart, opened, twice once by scalpel, once by grief and closed again only after it had poured out everything. He knew the way back: to Corpus, to family, to sand and sky and song. He breathed deeply  when he could, and fiercely when he couldn’t. He wore no armor but a bowtie, spoke plainly, and ju...
Read more

A good woman's love

Image
  with a good woman’s love he left                     that life behind        and died                     an honorable death in the bedroom                     that was mine
Read more

Morning Spigot

  I was challenged to blow up a condom in Church. demonstrate durability and strength of lambskin not fleece. Look where Pride has brought us from ancient Egypt or Greece, Intestines or bladders tied neatly with a bow, now latex, is generally the way to go, unless you're allergic, then alternatives are there, including vegan if you still care, rubbers save grace while saving the world from the whoops there's a kid or a sex organ burled.   sexual safety a labor of love put on prophylactic balloons
Read more