THE TRUTH IS A NIMBLE LITTLE CREATURE
Gratitude, too.
The only flippin’ truth
is everything moves
says the moon, hovering
over every mantra,
every sparrow,
every dollar, every
Congo, every nation,
every little good intention.
The more difficult the world
the greater the imperative
toward blame,
toward distraction,
toward impossible heights
and humble strings
of twinkle lights.
My love, let us vow
that through the winter
we shall pause by the river
where below the frozen surface
surely tiny fish are feeding.
Let us make a practice
of coming to bear
the weather,
of gathering by the fire,
of reading to one another
as the sparrow wears
her feather, as the moon
resolves to move,
as the body knows
surrender, as the leaves
believe September,
as rhyme succumbs
to reason, as the pause
to remember
descends upon the season.
—from Poets Respond
December 24, 2023
__________
Wendy Videlock: “I guess I’ve come to believe the more wars that pile up, the more destructive things appear, the greater the imperative toward service, wisdom and the creative impulse.” (web)
