Hallway to Nowhere

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  • Conversation With My Father (Poem)

    I ask him,

    “Why did you not tell me

    The happenstances of getting older?

    That the months and years would steadily speed,

    While the amount of time and energy

    Needed for any one task would increase?

    Or that the ability to dance would diminish but never the desire?”

    He replies,

    “You remember, surely, that I never had the chance to learn these things.

    I died a younger man than you have been for many years.

    So you are indeed solitary on this journey,

    Though I tried to give you what tools I could.”

    I smile and take his hand.

    “As long as I can remember you, I am not alone.”

  • Farewell (Poem)

    I shook the gossamer web of our connection

    Gently as a feather lands.

    Despite my efforts, you heard a roar

    Louder than thunder

    And felt the percussive tremors

    Of a violent quake.

    I do not know how to communicate with you.

    My words fall into a well of silence.

    I hear no echo, no return, and have no way

    To gauge their impact.

    For your sake and for mine,

    I will no longer navigate this darkened terrain.

    You have no more need for these invisible walls.

    I wish you all happiness.

  • Thoughts on the First Seal

    How would it be, to change our vision?

    We often ask (ourselves or god or the the universe)

    Why did this happen?

    We see an event as a particular discrete thing

    And usually when we query thus,

    Feel that it be extraordinary in some way.

    Often we seek some divine aid or give thanks for that perceived intervention.

    Consider if you will this possibility:

    There are no miracles nor curses. The playing field is level.

    A joyous birth equals a tragic death. The discovery of a vaccine equals the manufacture of a deadly weapon.

    And all equal the purchase of a cup of coffee.

    THESE ARE ALL ORDINARY. Shocking to write.

    Each came about in the same manner, with innumerable causes.

    They have no special quality in and of themselves,

    Though they do carry weight and impact, which we ourselves assign.

    We are the ones who decide what counts as remarkable,

    Either for reasons of evil or good, while we claim signs from some deity.

    If we choose to see this and acknowledge

    That everything is mundane and therefore also terrible and therefore also glorious,

    Then we can (perhaps) take a better path.