page 59

when compelled,
Compel.

---like a bat out of hell!

:::

here, on this plate, is a salmon.

there, in the rolling river,
is not a silent "l" nor silence,

just swimming upstream.

:::

a mother walked,

with a daughter's hand in hers

and a son's hand is the other.

i was just twenty or so away

and approaching

when the son turned around.

though unprompted,

he was prompted.

his little eyes---

those curious eyes,

looking and saying so much.

it is a curious but wise look

that says,

My innocence is older

than your ignorance.

he looked at me until

i said, with my eyes,

"yes. how foolish of me."

:::

Love is both the thief

and the mailman;

one prefers to walk

the town during night's slumber

to steel complacencies,

while the other prefers to walk

the town during day's cup-o'-joe

to delivery nothing;

when the town's people become angry

the mailman has delivered them nothing, 

and the thief 

has taken their most prized possessions

(protected by the suffocating mummification

of complacencies),

they are then forced

to start searching...

~

the mailman rode through the breath of dew

ignoring the yelling--

swerving S's in the street

like a drunkard saying,

"it's given. don't be complacent.

the thing already found, is always searching you."

the thief, sitting atop a mahogany dining table says,

"never stop searching it!"

:::

i wish my steps were

small in stride and

quick in stride

like that of a child's.

somewhere,

down the line---

our feet grow connections

with our mind;

they become

grand in stride and slow in stride and hesitate---

stopping stride all at once.

the mind's thoughts confuses them to the point

that they step around

in place

only turning
toe-directions.

a child does not think,

for they love;

their small strides and

small feet go---

they commit---commit---
commit---commit---

commit---commit---
commitcommit
commitcommit
commitcommitcommitcommitcommit---
commit;

they are the most pure and most bold travelers.

and i am here at a street corner,

contemplating going right or left---

feet unmoving,

they are crying beneath me.