A FRENZY OF JOY

Countries are like big shoes and little shoes
Walking around –
Some without too much direction and others with almost none at all.

Countries are also like lips
Some used to mock, others to kiss –
While the rarest of all can sometimes even be poetic.

Some countries have long memories and others almost none at all –
The latter due to centuries of unacknowledged crimes against others.

People themselves can also be like shoes, lips, or memories –
But, in spite of that, all are capable of dancing when the music starts.

When the music starts, there is no “I” and no “you” –
There’s only a “whee” caught up in accelerating circles of joy.

Logically, this means that dancing should be more popularly encouraged –
Whether in culture, play, or spirituality.

The elderly keep time by nodding along –
Tapping their toes.
The children, however, run riot – attempting to imitate the adults’ complex steps
As well as all their motions and emotions –
Resulting in a wild, yet oddly calm, frenzy of joy.

 

TIME TO SLOW DOWN

When the world moves forward
Faster than ordinary lives are used to

Anger may grow – with people starting to look for someone or something to blame –

That’s the nature of the world –
Which just keeps on turning

One day America is 80% white
And then, a few years later, 49% –
Who’s to blame?

One day the world sings along with Perry Como
And then, a few years later, is “down” with black rapper syncopation –
What’s the remedy?

Getting angry does no good – since, in that case, one only ends up hating oneself –
Getting stupid doesn’t work either.

When change is too massive –
People sometimes call on a clown king to enter the world’s arena –
And wreck everything in sight.

Eventually, calm returns and the broken pottery gets swept up –
The clown king turning back into its constituent rotten vegetables – and disappearing –
Life returning to normal.

I worry most when the world begins moving too fast
For regular human beings to keep up –

Perhaps, now, it might be good to slow things down –
Just a bit.