See them as Roses

She shuffles
now
with a cane dragging in her right hand
sifting through garbage
for the deposits on cans
and bottles
she lives in a house
though her clothes are soiled
tattered
she has a name
though few know it
and more often
she is spoken to
if at all
in epithets
in gentrification
she is unwanted
as vermin
yet
yet
she
to some
who can see
with their hearts
is a perfect flower
created by love
nurtured
by beauty light warmth
O
to learn
to see with them!
to see angels perched in trees
to hear birds whistling to the Lord
to see God picking through refuse
looking for a Rose

the light

whisper
a prayer
of thanks
ceaselessly
a Saint once proffered
how that is done
has
confounded
irritated
moved me
since its encountering
I know
now
much less then when I was 20
and even less then at 30
unlearning
is more difficult
then its opposite
to pray with my whole self
is then
to offer what I am
broken and not
to That Which is Beyond
Any Comprehension
or Thought
That which
I put a name on
God
will do
I offer my
self
as is known only by
the Great Other
to become love
many years ago
a wise man instructed
me to learn to be great at love
to love as a flower does
like the rain
people talk about love
he told me
don't talk about it
become it
and when I was 25,I thought
it simple...

again

A dour day historically. The weather,though,here at least, is bright, warm comfortable.Listening to Dinu Lipatti play Bach,my children are home ,some playing, others watching a baseball game. The Me ts are done, cooked,well, they were done a long time ago. The republicans are poised to set forth destroying whatever is left of the country in November. People have no jobs, and yet are hooked into the building of a mosque.Don't build it, build it,whatever,it is not the big issue.Education, jobs,the environment these are big deals.The sleight of hand constantly employed by Republicans amazes ME, AS does the reaction of the polis.Sigh.How many times do you have to get hit over the head before you realize who is hitting you?Like this fool who wanted to get famous for fifteen minutes by burning a book.Why didnt the'press' ignore this hoople and concentrate on real issues:How much does Blackwater get EVERY DAY from the debacle in IRAQ?Halliburton? why is no one investigating? DOES ANYONE CARE?IS anyone awake??????