What Matters is It is Done

 Song

Alvin Chea “Lift Every Voice and Sing”

Scripture passage

Galatians 3:23-29

Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed.  Therefore, the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to the promise.

Homily/Meditation

[Spoken: Roberta A. Drury]

This is an important day. It’s a Sunday, which for a lot of us, not just Christians, is a day of rest, a Sabbath, a time when we, in the best of circumstances, lean back, drink a third cup of coffee, maybe reflect a while on the previous or the coming week.

[Spoken: D. Morrison]

But it’s an important day for another reason too. June 19^th is also known as Juneteenth, the longest commemorated day in American history. While it’s only been a national holiday for a year, it’s been celebrated in various parts of the country since 1866. Today is the 156^th anniversary of that first celebration.

[Spoken: Andre Mackneil]

You might not be aware of the celebration or its origins. Here’s where it comes from. America’s Civil War, a bloody, fierce, nearly-America-ending conflict, finally came to an end April 9, 1865. That’s the day official hostilities were done. But not everyone knew. One hundred fifty years ago the world was a different place. Communication happened haphazardly in some places. The new telegraph didn’t reach everywhere, and even where newspapers were produced, not everyone could read.

[Spoken: Aaron Salter]

When the War ended, President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, issued New Year’s Day two years before, became the law in the state’s that had rebelled. It took from the war’s end in early April until mid-June for the Union Army to reach Texas, the furthest Confederate state, and announce General Order 3 which extended to the slaves still held in Texas the freedom they had in other states. In the words of Paul’s Letter to the Galatians, there was no longer slave or free. You can probably imagine the reaction folks had. Their boisterousness can still be experienced in contemporary celebrations.

[Spoken: Geraldine Talley]

The great American writer Ralph Ellison wrote a novel called Juneteenth. This is how he describes such a celebration.

“Juneteenth,” he could hear Daddy Hickman saying. “And it was a great occasion. There had been a good cotton crop and a little money was circulating among us. Folks from all over were in the mood for prayer and celebration. There must’ve been five thousand folks out there that week—not counting the real young chillun and the babies. Folks came all the way from Atlanta, Montgomery, Columbus, Charleston and Birmingham, just to be there and hear the Word. Horse teams and mule teams and spans of oxen were standing under the groves of trees around the clearing, and the wagon beds were loaded down with hay and feed for the animals and with quilts for the folks who had come in from the far sections, so they could sleep right there. All those wagons made it look as though everybody in the whole section was waiting for the Word to move on over across Jordan. Or maybe migrate West, as some later did. The feel of those days has gone out of the air now…And the shape of our minds is different from then, because time has moved on. Then we were closer to the faceless days, but we had faith. Yes, and ignorant as we knew we were, we had more self-respect. We didn’t have much but we squeezed life harder and there was a warm glow all around…But you remember how it was…In the daytime hot under the tent with the rows of benches and folding chairs; and the ladies in their summer dresses and their fans whipping up a breeze in time to the preaching and the singing. And the choirs and the old tried and tested workers in the vineyard dressed in their white uniforms. That’s right. All the solid substance of our way of doing things, of our sense of life. Everything ordered and in its place and everything and everybody a part of the ceremony and the evocation. Barrels of ice water and cold lemonade with the cakes of ice in them sitting out under the cool of the trees, and all those yellow cases of soda pop stacked off to one side. Yeah, and at night those coal-oil flares and the lanterns lighting things up like one of those county fairs…And the feasting part, you must remember that…There was all those ladies turning out fried fish and fried chicken and Mr. Double-Jointed Jackson, the barbecue king, who had come out from Atlanta and was sweating like a Georgia politician on election day…supervising sixteen cooks and presiding over the barbecue pits all by hisself…” Hickman laughed, shaking his white head; then pushing back in his chair he held up his great left hand, the fingers spread and bending supple as he counted with his right index finger. “Lord, we et up fifteen hundred loaves of sandwich bread; five hundred pounds of catfish and snapper; fifteen gallons of hot sauce, Mr. Double-Jointed Jackson’s formula; nine hundred pounds of barbecue ribs; eighty-five hams, direct from Virginia; fifty pounds of potato salad and a whole big cabbage patch of coleslaw. Yes, and enough frying-size chicken to feed the multitude! And let’s not mention the butter beans—naw! And don’t talk about the fresh young roasting-ears and the watermelons. Neither the fried pies, chocolate cakes and homemade ice cream. Lord, but that was a great occasion. A great occasion…I’m not just talking about the eating. I mean the communion, the coming together—of which the eating was only a part; an outward manifestation, a symbol, like the Blood is signified by the wine, and the Flesh by the bread…Ah yes, boy, we filled their bellies, but we were really there to fill their souls and give them reassurance—and we filled them. We moved ‘em!”

[Spoken: Celestine Chaney]

Ellison is probably describing a Juneteenth celebration of the 30s or 40s, the period of greatest expansion of the influence of Juneteenth moving from the backroads and shanty towns to the bigger towns and cities. This is when James Wheldon Johnson’s song, “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” which I played for you at the start, became known as the “Negro National Anthem” and twinned with Juneteenth. The song is a celebration not only of the freedom singing loudly gives people but of the ability of people to make something good out of their lives. To see beyond their individuality to community and, finally, universality.

[Spoken: Heyward Patterson]

So why should you care about Juneteenth if you aren’t Black? I mean, calling something the “Negro” or even Black National Anthem, identifying a holiday as something celebrating the freeing of a people, kind of sets it off as unique to them, doesn’t it? Makes those people separate, right? Gives others a sense of “this is our holiday, you go find your own?” It would leave them kind of segregated, wouldn’t it?

[Spoken: Katherine Massey]

I hope not. We don’t think of Martin Luther King, Jr Day as just a black people’s holiday, do we? Most of our presidents have been white men, so is President’s Day only for white men? Is Christmas and Easter only for Christians? Is Thanksgiving intended only for people who can trace their families back to the original Puritans? No, we all celebrate those to one extent or another. We all consider celebrating them a part of being an American. Ellison’s first novel, Invisible Man, isn’t a great Black American novel. It’s a great American novel, it doesn’t matter who’s reading it. Like Thanksgiving, Juneteenth is meant to be enjoyed by anyone who appreciates good food and being together with those we love.

[Spoken: Pearl Young]

Now what about these names I’ve been reeling off. Who are these people? Because of the needs of Sunday services here, I’m recording this a month before you see it. Less than a week before today, these people were the victims of a self-described fascist white supremacist at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York. He drove over 200 miles from his small predominantly white town to a predominantly Black neighborhood with the intent to kill as many people as he could.

[Spoken: Ruth Whitfield]

You people in the future may not remember this incident. That’s something we do, we Americans, we tend to remember the good things, like Daddy Hawkins remembers an earlier Juneteenth, but to forget the things that are uncomfortable or damaging. The things that leave us feeling like crap. But it’s important that we do. As painful, as uncomfortable as it may be, it’s important that we remember the words of Jesus in Matthew 25, “whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me…[and] whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.” What matters is not who is doing the good thing or who is receiving it, what matters is it is done.

Prayer

Spirit of Life, If ever there were a time for a candle in the darkness,
this would be it.
Using a spark of hope,
kindle the flame of love,
ignite the light of peace,
and feed the flame of justice. Melanie Davis

Song

Beyonce “Freedom” 

 

Try the Best You Can

 

Much of my time lately has been given over to reading rather than writing. But I did produce a service for my facility folks. It was initially meant to reference May 8th but because of misunderstandings at work among the chaplains, it will actually play this coming Sunday. As a result, I removed most references to the 8th being Mother's Day. That version playing at the facility also is a little different in that I produced essentially a slideshow for during the service that meant I didn't need to appear onscreen. (One of the changes I foresee in sermons is the lessening of the preacher's physical presence and the greater emphasis on his or her voice.) 

Service for May 8

 

Song (“Everybody Hurts”) 

 

Welcome. Welcome to this place where we have nightmares, but we also have dreams. Where we feel confused, but we also understand. Where we are afraid, but we also find courage. You are welcome. Together we make it a holy place.

 

Scripture passage

The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. ² He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters, ³ he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. ⁴ Even though I walk through the darkest valley,^[a]  I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. ⁵ You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. ⁶ Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

 

Homily/Meditation

 

          Let’s take that video I showed you by the group REM as a metaphor for what most of us are experiencing. Gridlock. Impasse. Jammed up. For a lot of us, that’s the way life feels often, like just a moment ago we were cruising down the superhighway, windows down, enjoying the swiftly moving air and the excitement that comes with speed. And a moment later, Bam, we’re locked down in traffic. Nowhere we can go. Hundreds of cars in a single boundaried space, like we’re water in a hose and someone has his thumb on the nozzle, just a trickle leaking out so we move forward by inches, a foot an hour.

          The solution for the people in the video is to get out and walk. You see them suddenly, as one, opening their doors and walking together, alone, in pairs, holding hands some of them, in the same direction, like they all know where they’re going. Wouldn’t we give anything to solve our sense of gridlock like that? To just step out of what’s holding us back and walk?

          In reality, of course, even one person getting out of their car and walking away will only make it worse for everyone else. For a solution like this you need everyone deciding beforehand this is how they’ll handle things, and outside a music video there’s not likely to be many people who’ll do that.

          Psalm 23, which I read to you after the video, may be one answer to that. It’s said to be, after The Lord’s Prayer, the most recognized poem in Western literature. Surely its description of comfort resonates with most of us, a sense of bucolic ease and transcendence, imagining us as sheep looked over by a caring shepherd or parent figure, a mother who will refresh and guide us through the harshest, most dangerous terrain, and back into safety and food.

          Pastors often talk about the pastor as the shepherd in this and other psalms. To shepherd also means to guide, and in relation to today, to mother. It’s ironic that the word “shepherd”, has come down to us as a synonym for pastor. Shepherd comes down to us from Old English, as does sheep, two of the few words that have, and a thousand years ago shepherds were buried with wool in their hands to prove their vocation and explain why they hadn’t been to church on Sundays.

          And consider the use that the word sheep has come down to us to mean. Gentle. Oblivious. Obtuse. Stubborn. Most of us experience sheep behind a fence as we zip by on the road. There they are, chewing intently on grass, ignorant as cows. In fact, in the way the portmanteau term “sheeple” has come to us, meaning docile, silly, easily fooled or led, as a derogatory political term for voters on the other side, I don’t think any thinking person would want to have the word sheep associated with them. In a word, sheep are dumb.

          Minnesota sheep farmer Catherine Friend deplores my ignorance. She writes, “Sheep are just steady, reliable, unchanging. Today’s sheep is much like the sheep of 10,000 years ago. They do an excellent job of being exactly what they are…Sheep understand food. They understand danger. They understand caring for their babies…Sheep aren’t born with an understanding of gates or tractors or the knowledge that if they don’t get themselves into the barn right now the farmer will miss the kickoff for the Super Bowl.”

          I want to assert right here that you, by which I mean me too, all of us, can be sheep. Because this is what happens when sheep run into that gridlock I spoke of earlier.

 

Sheep have two flight zones, shaped like cones, that serve as brilliant protection. One cone spreads backward from its head. If you approach a sheep directly from behind or from slightly to the side, you’ll step into this flight zone and the sheep will surge forward…

The sheep has a second flight zone, this cone reaching from its head forward. If you approach a sheep from the front and step inside this zone, will the sheep turn around and run in the opposite direction?

No, she will not…That sheep is going to do the last thing you’d expect. If you step into that forward flight zone, the ewe will shoot straight toward you, a white blurred streak that passes within inches of your useless hands, leaving you standing there, mouth agape. You will both look and feel stupid. You will understand that even though you have more brain cells than a sheep, you have the reaction time of a slug.

         

          We’re all sheep. I don’t mean that as a put down. I’m not talking about sheep as passive but as squirming, lively, noise-making beasts in flight from the problems we’re experiencing, the issues we have, the fears chasing us. There’s no effective shepherd as we’re too fast, too agile, too often do the unexpected thing when we run.

          And boy, do we run. Always running, as babies we hit the ground running, like sheep. And while we may be unable to articulate it, and that’s legitimate because you’ve been running too hard to find words or a definition of what you’re running from or what safety you’re running to.

          Be patient with each other. Breathe. Focus. Be with other people as a nursing mother tending to her children. Walk away from the gridlock however you can and toward one another. Do the best things in the worst times. Try the best you can. But be patient. We are sheep and we are running to find where we belong.

 

 

Prayer

We pause in the stillness to rest for a moment, to quiet ourselves so that we can feel what stirs within us. Each breath draws us closer to the pulse of life and with each exhalation we make room for something new. May we find in this gathering the comfort of those who care. May we encounter patience along our growing edges and compassion in our most tender spots. Here may we find the inspiration and encouragement we need to face our challenges and nurture ourselves. And in the presence of suffering across the globe may we redouble our efforts to practice kindness where we are, with the hope that the light of our actions travels like the light of faraway stars. May our gestures of compassion and generosity seed possibility. May we travel humbly with one another, choosing reconciliation over resentment as we try to live right-sized. When life presses in and shifts us off balance, when pain assails us, when frustration mounts, may the rhythm of our breath steady us and bring us back to a place of gratitude.

 

Benediction

Take comfort, friends. The journey is long. The path is often difficult. And the future is uncertain. But take comfort. Deep down there is another truth. You are not alone.

 

Song (“Optimistic”) 

I'd like to think if I was tested I would pass

This has been a busy, busy month and it's been a while since I've had the time and opportunity to post this second recent message from a service at the facility. This was recorded for the first Sunday in March.  

 Luke 4:1-13

4:1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, 4:2 where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. 4:3 The devil said to him, If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread. 4:4 Jesus answered him, It is written, One does not live by bread alone. 4:5 Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 4:6 And the devil said to him, To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. 4:7 If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours. 4:8 Jesus answered him, It is written, Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him. 4:9 Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, 4:10 for it is written, He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you, 4:11 and On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone. 4:12 Jesus answered him, It is said, Do not put the Lord your God to the test. 4:13 When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.

 Mara Upasatha Sutra

The holy one directed his steps to that blessed Bodhi-tree beneath whose shade he was to accomplish his search. As he walked, the earth shook and a brilliant light transfigured the world. When he sat down the heavens resounded with joy and all living beings were filled with good cheer. Mara alone, lord of the five desires, bringer of death and enemy of truth, was grieved and rejoiced not. With his three daughters, Tanha, Raga and Arati, the tempters, and with his host of evil demons, he went to the place where the great Samana sat. But Shakyamuni heeded him not. Mara uttered fear-inspiring threats and raised a whirlwind so that the skies were darkened and the ocean roared and trembled. But the Blessed One under the Bodhi-tree remained calm and feared not. The Enlightened One knew that no harm could befall him. The three daughters of Mara tempted the Bodhisattva, but he paid no attention to them, and when Mara saw that he could kindle no desire in the heart of the victorious Samana, he ordered all the evil spirits at his command to attack him and overawe the great Muni. But the Blessed One watched them as one would watch the harmless games of children. All the fierce hatred of the evil spirits was of no avail. The flames of hell became wholesome breezes of perfume, and the angry thunderbolts were changed into lotus-blossoms. 

 

 I’m not telling you anything new by saying words have meaning. But when we apply it to scriptures like the Bible or the Koran or Buddhist Sutras, we often use words that have come down to us from centuries of use as meaning something they no longer mean. For instance, in this scripture we hear an important word, “devil,” that conjures up an image our parents might have given it that doesn’t quite match the original word. We think of a guy in red with a pointed tail and horns and a pitchfork. 

But that’s not what’s meant by the Greek word, “diabolos.” While it does translate as devil, diabolos meant a different creature like an accuser or a trickster, one who tests the truth of a statement. Think of the devil here as The Tester, one who is fulfilling an important job, like Coyote in Native American stories or Loki in Norse myth. Think of diabolos, not as someone against Jesus or you, but someone whose job is to make sure you’re up to whatever task is ahead of you. 

Diabolos’ job is not to make Jesus transform stone to bread but to see if he’s learned to control his wants. Similarly, when Jesus is told “You can rule everywhere and everyone and all you have to do is worship me,” he controls his greed. The Tester tells him he could rival God and his response is “Only God is God.” Finally, The Tester gives Jesus an ultimate test: “Jump off this temple roof, let yourself be saved by angels. God  has a lot riding on you, God won’t let you die.” But Jesus says, “Don’t test God. Just accept.” We don’t climb to the roof of a building and jump. We know better than that. 

 When we talk about temptation, we’re talking about an urge to do something we wouldn’t normally do. The word itself comes to us from Old French out of the Latin word temptare "to feel, try out, attempt to influence."  We’re tempted sometimes to do something that helps someone. Holding open a door suddenly for someone we see behind us struggling with a box, or picking up the tab for someone we’ve joined for a drink. 

While we obviously don’t have exactly the same temptations as in Luke’s story, to say we have temptations in today’s world is an understatement. In place of commanding stones into bread, we’re tempted to claim of one thing that it’s another. Like if we’ve insulted someone and they catch us in it we’re tempted to say, “No, it’s a joke. I didn’t mean it.” Instead of worshipping Diabolos to rule the kingdoms of the world, we’re tempted to do something we don’t like or that hurts someone to make more money. Or in place of throwing ourselves from a high spot to see if God will send angels to protect us, we might be tempted to put ourselves in danger by refusing to be vaccinated or taking precautions, certain our faith will protect us.

Dickey Barrett, the singer and lyricist of the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, the band playing the song I played you earlier, has a wonderful line: “I’m not a coward, I’ve just never been tested. I like to think if I was I would pass. Look at the tested and think, There but for the grace go I. I might be a coward, I’m afraid of what I might find out.” We test ourselves constantly and sometimes, yes, we prove to be cowards. That’s all right. If you’re tempted to take a bite out of a stone or to jump off the roof, you should be a coward. You’ll only hurt yourself that way. 

Better to test yourself in small ways. This woman’s voice bothers me. Can I be kind to her anyway? My roommate is driving me crazy; can I voluntarily go somewhere I don’t have to see or hear him? I spill juice, I forget my hat sometimes, I misplace my favorite book. Can I be patient with myself about the thousands of mistakes I make daily? It’s in passing the little tests we set for ourselves that we become better people. This is what God intends for us, to become better who we are. 

 [Lord’s Prayer]

 Benediction by Wayne Arneson

“Take courage friends. The way is often hard, the path is never clear, and the stakes are very high. Take courage. For deep down, there is another truth: you are not alone.”

Are you satisfied?

 

Since I've been at my new work, I've been pressed to write and record a few homilies for replay on Sundays on the units. This is the first written for February 27th, and it's taken a while because it's required both my computer and my work computer to play nicely together when they are probably a decade apart in production, and I don't think either involved 2020 as the decade. 

SERVICE FOR FEBRUARY 27TH, 2022, AT WINNEBAGO MENTAL HEALTH INSTITUTION

First Reading Exodus 34

29 Moses came down from Mount Sinai, carrying the Ten Commandments. His face was shining brightly because the LORD had been speaking to him. But Moses did not know at first that his face was shining. 30When Aaron and the others looked at Moses, they saw this, and they were afraid to go near him. 31Moses called out for Aaron and the leaders to come to him, and he spoke with them. 32Then the rest of the people of Israel gathered around Moses, and he gave them the laws that the LORD had given him on Mount Sinai.

33The face of Moses kept shining, and after he had spoken with the people, he covered his face with a veil. 34Moses would always remove the veil when he went into the sacred tent to speak with the LORD. And when he came out, he would tell the people everything the LORD had told him to say. 35They could see that his face was still shining. So after he had spoken with them, he would put the veil back on and leave it on until the next time he went to speak with the LORD.

Second Reading Sura 7 “The Elevated Places”

144[God] said: O Musa! Surely I have chosen you above the people with My messages and with My words, therefore take hold of what I give you and be [among] the grateful ones. 145And We ordained for him in the tablets admonition of every kind and clear explanation of all things; so take hold of them with firmness and enjoin your people to take hold of what is best thereof…

I'm pretty certain we all have heard Bob Marley at one time or another. He was a great man whose death, 40 years ago, is remembered by all of us. We all have, I'm sure, our own favorite Marley song but it's generally agreed that his greatest is "Exodus" from the same titled album. I'm going to take a few minutes to play this for you. 

    

        You know, bouncing around a little up here I'm reminded of a commercial for a beer from Jamaica. The tagline is "Red Stripe and reggae, helping our white friends to dance for  seventy years." You have doubtless heard the song many times, and one phrase that comes through clearly, in tone and in meaning, are the words, “Open your eyes and look within. Are you satisfied with the life you’re living?”

            I want to turn to the scripture reading. In seminary one of the most important clues to interpreting scripture I was taught is the habit of reading the chapters before and after the selected one to put it into context. So here’s what’s happening in this selection. The Jews have left Egypt, they’re on their desert journey, God has given Moses the first set of Commandments. In his absence, the travelers have built a gold image and imbued it with their faith, and in fury Moses has flung the tablets to the ground and ground the calf to dust. Oddly, perhaps, after berating his people, Moses returns to Mount Sinai to ask God’s forgiveness and favor. Surprisingly, he finds it. God gives him another set of tablets, he returns to the travelers. Having spoken with God, his face shows a glowing difference that marks him as someone other, and he goes on to oversee the construction of the Tabernacle.

            Here’s where the song “Exodus” and the book Exodus intersect.

            Marley’s words are a reflection of a simple question we probably all ask ourselves. Does the way I’m living satisfy me? Am I doing the things I ought to be doing? Is this the life I should live? The author Jiddu Krishnamurti put it in a form I like. Does this path I’m following have a heart?

            The response, according to Moses’ people in the book Exodus, is a resounding “No.” The path they’re on might have a heart but after several decades of searching it’s really hard for them to see it. That’s why Moses climbs Mount Sinai to speak with God. God’s response is, “These are the laws you need to follow to live a good life.”

            Millenia later, we still ask that question. We all wonder what we need to do to live a good life. Our answer may lie in the tablets God gives to Moses. They’re great lessons to live by. But for most of us the day to day answer requires a response that’s a bit more complicated. We probably don’t daily have to make a choice whether or not to steal, should we kill or not. It’s likelier we’re going to ask, How should I behave in this situation? I guess it’s an old copout but it’s up to each of us individually what rules we need to follow to lead a life with heart. The sad truth is my path is not the same as yours. Buddhist monks say, “Many paths, one mountain.” So no one else can know what your path is like.

            But, for better and worse, change is our only constant. Everything can change between one day and another. As a result, don’t try to navigate your path alone because you’ll get lost. Find someone you trust and let them see you at your best and even your worst. And start small. Take your time. Smile as genuinely as you can when you see someone you like and acknowledge them. Be angry at people if you must but don’t be mean. We can’t know what’s ahead. We might live 120 years, like Moses, but die within sight of our Promised Land. We might, like Bob Marley, die at 36 from a cancer under our toenail. Whatever our path, it’s ours alone to travel. We should have good companions and comfortable places to rest.

[Lord’s Prayer]

Benediction by Wayne Arneson

“Take courage friends. The way is often hard, the path is never clear, and the stakes are very high. Take courage. For deep down, there is another truth: you are not alone.”

 

 

 

Celebrating a Chinese poet

 

“TO LIVE IS TO SHOUT AT THE SKY”

(With apologies to Nianxi Chen, whose title I have appropriated)

 

I woke because I had heard my name

Muttered in the lyrics to “Diamonds and Rust.”

I’d fallen asleep over an article about

A Chinese miner, an explosives worker, who

Had also been a poet. Waking, I sat, a dog

Curled against my haunch, my customary

Middle aged position, the middle finger

Of my right hand holding closed my right eye.

The second knuckle curled against the lid, thought-

Lessly, holding down a broken window shade

That keeps flapping up.

Aging as my father did

THE SMALL SIGNS I’M GROWING OLDER EXACTLY AS MY FATHER DID

Liver spots on the backs of my hands. Loss of
Interest in watching television, greater interest
In listening to other people. Occasional random
Missed strips of white whiskers from shaving, standing
Out because they’re whiter than my hair. Driving onto
And then back off the pavement. Forgetting keys,
Glasses, addresses, names, my own age, children. A large open spot
On the top of my head anyone looking down would
Understandably mistake for a UFO crop circle.

You matter

 

WITNESSED IN MILWAUKEE

A little girl, handholding

Two possible mothers, sometimes lifted

By them off the street, shouting,

Louder and louder, “Black Lives Matter!”

Joyous, the way it ought to be shouted.

And a guy turning around, smiling,

Showing her his makeshift sign,

That reads, “You Matter!”