A POEM FOR THESE TIMES
Give me a messiah and I’ll join their cause.
Find me a revolutionary and I’ll be there.
For I can cook,
I can love,
I can sing,
I can mend.
I will obey the orders and march.
What else shall I do?
Turn to the way I stir a spot.
The way I hold a hand-
The way I say hello to strangers in the street-
The depth of my listening-
But give me a revolutionary and I’ll be there!
I’ll pack a bag!
I’ll lace my boots!
Until then I’ll make you tea-
I’ll cook dinner
I’ll read old books
I’ll listen to stories
I’ll be quiet so others can speak more
I’ll let the cycles of this planet move as they always have
And as they move us
I will love
I will wipe tears
I will stay awake
I will read poetry
I will kiss
I will make love
I will not pretend the world isn’t burning
Animals aren’t dying
Leaders aren’t killing
They always have been
People have always been making love while wars are waged
And buildings crumbling
Dancing and raising glasses
Passionately embracing
Let us do that and not pretend
Let us do that and not ignore
We may have been a
Business as Usual
With genocide and slavery swept under old English rugs
but
We are looking now
We can protest
by Loving
By Looking
By Listening
And give me a revolutionary and I’ll be there!
Send them our way Dear Gods
(The dinosaurs didnt get one so why should we?
But I thought I may as well ask,
No harm in asking?)
For now I’ll keep listening.
Awaiting the next steps from Beyond.
Wiping tears.
Breathing.
Hugging.
Making safe spaces.
Heating a copper kettle.
Not forgetting,
or getting full of false news
I will be lighting candles.
Trying to get people to sit on my living room floor with me
Dance with me—
Calling on the Beyond: “Jesus? Gandhi? Martin Luther King Jr? Joan of Arc? Thoughts?”
Silence.
“Dinosaurs? Do you hear me? Do you have any advice? Asking for a Friend.”
xx AR xx. 1.7.2020
