POEMS/ Lesson on the Meaning of Life
Lesson on the Meaning of Life
When too many cold gray days in a row
rank after rank of them
march over the snow topped mountains
I ponder how to gather light again
how to drive away the chill
that pulses in my heart--
fundamental questions
made urgent by the empty
woods and silent trees
still waiting to be full
of the certainty of bird song. I
can find no answers, but the questions
remain—how to be patient, to accept what
I can’t change, problems as daunting
as clipping the claws on the cat
proud stubborn creature
whose long ginger fur collects
sun light as if it belonged to him
but when it comes to claws
he bites and struggles
unmoved even by the beatitudes
of warmth or food or stroking--
no questions for him
he has all the answers
he needs.
From All Roads Go Where They Will (Antrim House, 2010)
When too many cold gray days in a row
rank after rank of them
march over the snow topped mountains
I ponder how to gather light again
how to drive away the chill
that pulses in my heart--
fundamental questions
made urgent by the empty
woods and silent trees
still waiting to be full
of the certainty of bird song. I
can find no answers, but the questions
remain—how to be patient, to accept what
I can’t change, problems as daunting
as clipping the claws on the cat
proud stubborn creature
whose long ginger fur collects
sun light as if it belonged to him
but when it comes to claws
he bites and struggles
unmoved even by the beatitudes
of warmth or food or stroking--
no questions for him
he has all the answers
he needs.
From All Roads Go Where They Will (Antrim House, 2010)
