Juxtapositions: A Collection

 

Don't surrender your loneliness

So quickly.

Let it cut more

Deep.

Let it ferment and season you

As few human

Or even divine ingredients can.

(Hafiz)

sometimes

loneliness wraps his arms around me

and holds me close

so I can hear

the beating, the breathing, the knowing

of being alone

(in a crowded room)

when he finally lets me go

after a minute that felt an eternity

he kisses my forehead

and so I'm marked

with a sign that leaves me wondering -

how to see grace

in being alone?

(2.23.2012)

Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.

       Meanwhile, the world goes on

Meanwhile, the sun and clear pebbles of the rain

       are moving across the landscapes,

       over the prairies and the deep trees,

       the mountains and the rivers.

Meanwhile, the wild geese, high in clean blue air,

       are heading home again.

Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,

      the world offers itself to your imagination,

calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting -

      over and over announcing your place

      in the family of things.

(Mary Oliver)