oh my words
capable of such beauty
describing peace on earth
and good will toward all
how can they treat you like this
using you to corrupt minds
telling so many lies
as if the words are lies
the lies do not exist in the words
they exist in the minds
and the mouths
and now the fingers
of the corruptors
they infect the words
with a virus
make them sickly
my heart bleeds for them
they do not want to be used
in this way
I hear them cry out to me
each time I try to sleep
do not abuse me
please help me

we hold hands
create a connection

function as one
large being

one heart
one soul
one mind

we feel the energy
an invigorating force

sharing one life
we reach up

through the layer
above us

gain the vision
of the eagle

see across time
and space

into the meaning
of everything

it leaves us
wordless

we take a
vow of silence

it is not easy
to break patterns

a human is complex

the whole is more
than the sum

of the parts
and what are

the parts anyway

mind
body
soul

memories
fantasies
dreams

thoughts
feelings
instincts

if­ we can’t
really define

ourselves
how can we

change ourselves
purposefully

he had a brain
not an education
not even high school
it wasn’t uncommon
then for the poor
school doesn’t pay
and someone has to
make money
and as long as you
could work you
could make money
and he could work
and he could learn
how to run machines
so he could find work
and he could learn
how to shoot guns
so he could fight
in wars
and he could
learn how to drink
so he could fight demons
and they never stopped
him from working
so he always got paid
so he could always pay
for his drink
he had a brain
not an education

I do remember her hands
they were strong
and busy
she had long thin fingers
and pointy nails
she was always filing
her handwriting was
beautiful and
her doodles
were quite good
she made delicious meals
with them and
sewed and crocheted
frequently and quite well
even though she worked
in factories they were
not rough
I guess she took care
of them
I do remember her
nervous habits
smoking and
folding chewing gum wrappers
they were all over the
coffee table
I do that too
folding not smoking

she lays in gray
dreams of a fog

where she could
dissolve and

disappear

become a form
that has no

place or substance
that cannot be held

or controlled
by anyone

the shortest line
in the book is

jesus wept

I imagine it
not as a flood

but as

individual droplets
sliding slowly
down cheeks

past closed lips

eyes wide open
there is no sound

no snot or sniffling
no loud wails

the kind of tears
that come from

deeply knowing
the pain of loss

I know this pain
I have wept