Friday, March 31, 2023

Rabbit-Foot Clover

Many years I didn't notice you
growing chiefly in neglected city spots:
sidewalk cracks, patches of overgrown grass,
near derelict buildings. Common as dandelion,
equally overlooked. It took a slow, contemplative walk
for you to get my attention, fuzzy spot of cheer.
I fell in love, took you home, enjoyed you more than
the showiest bloom.

To find you each spring delights me,
your persistence, willingness to grow anywhere,
especially inhospitable places. You possess
strength and beauty of wildness.
I want to be like you.

Wednesday, March 22, 2023

The Vulnerability of Open Space

 And you find your soul, and greatness has a defender. . .
From “People Like Us,” by Robert Bly

I claim to want to find my soul, yet today
and tomorrow stretch before me with minimal agenda.
Instead of joy, I feel fear. The vulnerability of open space
is like being on a treeless plain exposed to enemies
who come to do battle. 
Is this more true than I realize?
Are the enemies my own fears and longings
kept at bay by my busyness?

Outward silence and solitude don’t mean
I’m alone and quiet. There is a cacophony within;
I feel like the Gerasene demoniac. Legion is my name.

I want to find my soul. I want to be well. Down deep,
beneath the inner noise, I know this is true.
You have made me for greatness, for largeness,
for fullness of joy. Free me from the noise within me.
Let me hear the song you sing to my soul.