03/28/20 Fraying Lines

Let me feel grateful for the solitude,

but there are those who can’t rest;

let me worship peace with an alarm clock set on snooze indefinitely,

but everyday another worker screams, naked in neglect;

let me write my little words

like there’s meaning in abstraction,

myth,

metaphor,

but the front lines are far, far out there

where the rest of us can’t reach;

let me dance party in the kitchen,

but there are billions crying;

let me ponder the river,

but an orange clown rages with deceit;

let me water my garden,

a homeless thief suffers in an alley

with a last duty;

let me contemplate which greens to sauté,

but I know someone, somewhere starves their love.

Good, bad;

wrong, right;

I cannot engineer a solution

– this is a mutual tide –

we are adrift, billions of little rafts,

tied together;

take care to check the fraying of your lines