Poem: Superbly Situated

you politely ask me not to die and i promise not to
right from the beginning—a relationship based on
good sense and thoughtfulness in little things

i would like to be loved for such simple attainments
as breathing regularly and not falling down too often
or because my eyes are brown or my father left-handed

and to be on the safe side i wouldn’t mind if somehow
i became entangled in your perception of admirable objects
so you might say to yourself: i have recently noticed

how superbly situated the empire state building is
how it looms up suddenly behind cemeteries and rivers
so far away you could touch it—therefore i love you

part of me fears that some moron is already plotting
to tear down the empire state building and replace it
with a block of staten island mother/daughter houses

just as part of me fears that if you love me for my cleanliness
i will grow filthy if you admire my elegant clothes
i’ll start wearing shirts with sailboats on them

but i have decided to become a public beach an opera house
a regularly scheduled flight—something that can’t help being
in the right place at the right time—come take your seat

we’ll raise the curtain fill the house start the engines
fly off into the sunrise, the spire of the empire state
the last sight on the horizon as the earth begins to curve
                                 

Robert Hershon
Died March 20, 2021

The invisible community

Although I am a typical loner in my daily life,
my awareness of belonging to the invisible community
of those who strive for truth, beauty, and justice
has prevented me from feelings of isolation.

                   Albert Einstein, My Credo

 

 

 

 

Driving out devils

Devils can be driven out of the heart
by the touch of a hand on a hand,
or a mouth on a mouth.

         Tennessee Williams, The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore

A morning of grace

I thought that it was strange to assume
that it was abnormal for anyone
to be forever asking questions
about the nature of the universe,
about what the human condition really was,
my condition,
what I was doing here,
if there was really something to do.
It seemed to me on the contrary
that it was abnormal for people
not to think about it,
for them to allow themselves to live,
as it were, unconsciously.
Perhaps it's because everyone,
all the others,
are convinced in some unformulated, irrational way
that one day everything will be made clear.
Perhaps there will be a morning of grace for humanity.
Perhaps there will be a morning of grace for me. 

                   Eugene Ionesco, The Hermit

Poem: Opening/Overtures

When each of your days
becomes holy to you,

when each of your hours
becomes holy to you,

when each of your moments
becomes holy to you,

when the earth and you,
space and you,
shall carry the holy
throughout your days

then you will be
in the fields of glory.

        Eugene Guillervic, translated by Denise Levertov

 

 

 

 

 

Resurrection

The word "resurrection" has for many people the connotation
of dead bodies leaving their graves or other fanciful images.
But resurrection means the victory of the New state of things,
the New Being born out of the death of the Old.
Resurrection is not an event that might happen in some remote future,
but it is the power of the New Being to create life out of death,
here and now, today and tomorrow.

                         Paul Tillich, The New Being

 

 

 

 

Can these bones live?

The Eternal had a hold on me, and I couldn’t escape it.
The divine wind of the Eternal One picked me up
and set me down in the middle of the valley,
but this time it was full of bones.
God led me through the bones.
There were piles of bones everywhere in the valley—
dry bones left unburied.

Eternal One: "Son of man, do you think these bones can live?"

Ezekiel: "Eternal Lord, certainly You know the answer better than I do."

Eternal One: "Actually, I do. Prophesy to these bones.
Tell them to listen to what the Eternal Lord says to them:
'Dry bones, I will breathe breath into you, and you will come alive.
I will attach muscles and tendons to you,
cause flesh to grow over them, and cover you with skin.
I will breathe breath into you, and you will come alive.
After this happens, you will know that I am the Eternal.'"

                      Ezekiel 37:1-6, The Voice Bible translation

Dry Bones in the Valley sermon by C. L. Franklin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yERGhtz8hv8