ask for words

for script

pour this into a cup

drink slowly

let meaning slip into the heart

then

scrape letters from the dregs

eat them one by one

bitter and sweet

tasting of wisdom

tasting of tea

hours watching the sky

light that changes every second

summer weave of branches

textured movement of clouds

illusory drive of time

underlying these fluctuations a stillness

the pause within the flicker of a leaf

the infinite moment between exhale and inhale

the ever-present calm of the gap

no one that sees, nothing to be seen

only seeing

those who came before us

whoever we are, whoever they be

do they mourn the current destruction

or rejoice in the smaller joys

do they care, the ancestors, the revered ones

the sainted and the destroyers

they who change roles depending on view

will the little happinesses that anchor our lives be enough

and if we call out in desperation

these having ceased to hold, will they answer

all their wrath, all their wisdom

what becomes of them unheard

the forgotten gods and the abandoned elders

now crumbled remnants in the dirt