diagnosis

as i would put forth a hand
to stop the flow of blood
from accidental harm,
so i wished to stop the pain
that pours unceasing
from your heart
where it lives in endless dark wells,
a daily stain,
unfaded and increasing,
an evil childhood spell
written on its victim's very brain.
there is no counter-charm---
my good intentions,
all my love or care,
are powerless to staunch
the bitterness that dwells
immortal there.
nothing that i do or am
and nothing that you say
you wish for can stand
against the rising flood,
weaponless, you wound yourself
again with each new day.

"thoughts and prayers"

in ugly times,
don't be facile
with your prayers.
be willing to look
a little deeper
into the murky under layers
of what went wrong.
prayer, by the way, isn't only meant
to be a solace or a sop
a way to make your sorrows
or discomfort stop---no,
it is a heart-cry to all that is,
a rending hope for better,
and a promise to make
things so...
the gods most smile on those
who feel another's pain
and also work
to see it not occur again.

meaning-full

looking for meaning
in most things
may be
if not mistaken,
then at least
unhelpful, because it brings
such sorrow.
i've made a list
of places not to look:
anywhere that you forsook someone
or were forsaken,
where you were yesterday
or hoped to be
tomorrow,
the news, the television
generally---
it's a voluntary prison
we put ourselves in daily.
it's best to look outside---
outside ourselves,
outside our walls
and noisy streets.
look to the slide of raindrops
down a tree,
the way the bark shines
and colors appear.
a hawk may take a rabbit
for its meal,
and there is some grief,
but not like our human world
where one who takes a life
is not a hunter
but a thief.
look to the calls of birds
the way their chorus greets
the dawn,
look at a leaf in the sun
shining like a gem---
all the things we barely see
and barely hear
because of noise
and daily grind
and false comparison.
see the world
for what it is:
beautiful.
it need not have been,
but somehow is
and that evergreen perplexity
of beauty being
is all the meaning
that i need to see.