One Day
One day not so long ago
I walked
Never alone
For the world
Is always my home
It was a late
Spring snow
Yet I felt
Invisible red roses
Offering sweetest perfume
To my nose and soul
There’s such warmth
In snow-filled winter
No bitterness
No lack of forgiveness
There’s much coolness
In hottest humid sun
Much calm in spring
Unpredictability
Much tranquility
In autumn’s
Rustic leaves
Rose colored glasses?
Maybe
Hypocrisy
Yes I see
Your point
But,
I noice how
We all point
But in all kinds
Of weather
I sense something
Mysterious
Even delirious
Is it hope?
Maybe
But I feel
A gentle knowing
A glowing
So that when
Sadness descends
I don’t deny it
I don’t even hide it
I will write about it
And transform it
Because not much
Is black and white
Either or
A dialectical
A dialogue I feel
In harshest wind
In the lovely
Waving meadow
Kind of all the same
Do we really
Need another name
Isn’t it insane
To obsessively categorize
Prioritize
Always sizing up
Summing up
Is it really true
Your golden rule
For you
And everyone
Not like you
There are so many layers
So many levels
So many hierarchies
But who’s hierarchies
Whose catechisms
Should I impose
My soul
On your life
When you’re
Struggling to
Just get by?
When I worked
Part time
In such a complex
Web of energies
Called a bookstore
A famous man
In a famous band
Came in
Sat down
And signed his books
Letting others
Take pictures
With love
He stayed so long
Smiling
Giving
Sharing
Not promising
He volunteered
To stay beyond
The stores’s closing
Chatting on the
Glistening downtown
Sidewalks
Interacting
Without much acting
Crying with some
Laughing with others
Security got a little worried
Cause crowds were forming
Fans started swarming
The staff said
What’s with this man
Taking about
Eternal love
Do you think
He’s high
Do you think
He’s gay
More labels
More names
More stereotypes
What’s he up to
Doesn’t he have a life
And where exactly
In his wife?
So I asked straight
Before it was late
Cause I was getting tired
I was up at 3
I said Mr so and so
Where do you
Get all your giving-ness
Willingness
He answered
I’m still a good Jew
I studied
Hillel
A sage with warmth
Not just law
But Spirit
So when I’m
Not too tired
I think of the
One I admire
He’d approve.
I sense you do too
He signed a book
For me
Bought it for me
At his insistence
The limo pulled up
His wife beaming
And singing in the back
Reading a National Geographic
He walked inside
The vehicle
They waved to all
And kissed
In amber light
I stopped at Wendy’a
Had nice large
Chocolate frosty
I opened his book
And noticed what he wrote
He scribbled
A man you admire
Said do
As I do.
It was peaceful
But a marginalized
Intoxicated man
Threw up
On the yellow table
Should I offer
Another label?
Na, I bought him
A burger, fries
And extra strong
Coffee with cream
And have him the book
He gave me a friendly look
As I cracked my neck
And back
You have pain too
He said?
Guess we all do
Sometimes I said,
Hopefully I’ll sleep well
I bemoaned
Glad I’d be able to
Lay around
The next day
As I walked out
There were cops
All around
There had been
A shooting
And some kind
Of looting
This city’s gone to hell
A young lady groaned
More at me
Than to me
I said yeah
I can see your point
But I remember
Thinking
Yeah and just
About everyone else’s
I’m not prone
To overt
Mysticism
Depending how
You define it
I’ve been known
To light a candle
Have spiritual statues
Maybe that’s about it
But I also noted
That night the train
Was crowded
The people seemed
Energized
From my perspective
The night was mixed
With hues
Of blue, gold
And violet repose
The breeze was just right.
Walked in the door
At home
Not feeling alone
At all
My rented room
Still nice and clean
I lied down
On lumpy
Mattress on the floor
Didn’t have a window
But felt
A misty glow
As I picked up
An anthology
Listening to
Grover Washington Junior
Melt an alto
Saxophone solo
From the tiny boom-box
I bought for
Eleven dollars
Skimmed through
The pages
Of Martin Buber’s
Lovely words
He said something about
People shouting
Turning each other
Into it’s —
Again labels.
I was beat.
Closed my eyes
Felt spring kissed
Dreams even before
Fully asleep
The next morning
I was energized
At ease
Frankly feeling
Great
Ran across the hall
Took a nice cool shower
While the bathroom
Was available
What the hey,
Maybe I’d call
To see if they needed
Help
At the hospital
I volunteered
Walked in
Peaceful loving morning
Students mixing
Forever repairing
The world
In mischievous
Suspicious
Electric stars
Free of
Encapsulating
Enclosures
Walked into Burger King
Singing Los Tigers del Norte
Songs
Used the pay phone
They’d love to have me
For a few hours
I needed to get in
My hours
For some silly
Financial aid
Package
And had some scrambled
Eggs and weak tea.
Looking through
Variety magazine
To see what movies
We’re on the scene
Hopped on still more
Trains
Mixing with
All kinds of people
Multicolored pastels
In abundant fresh air
Inside, they’d put meRight to work
In a tiny office
That kind of smelled
With a cracked ceiling
About to fall down
They had me doing
Intake,
I’d see four patients
With addictions issues
I’d listen
Not having too much
Experience with
With the issue
I took some notes
Write what I observed
Enjoying the people
Glad that
My back muscles were
Loosening
Categorization
Not imploding
Acceptance flowing
And with each patient
I wrote
Addiction disorder
After 90 days
Of clean living
We’d see
About some
Some label.
5.14.23
Copyright © Richard Davis | Year Posted 2023
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