Angel
—Photo by Katy Brown, Davis
ANOTHER STRANGE JUXTAPOSITION
—Michael Paul, Garden Valley, CAAnother strange juxtaposition or two
in the newsfeed today:
Someone called upon Krishnamurti
to denounce all labels as violence
if I am this or that, in gist
makes you into the Other
someone else piped up and called BS!
then quoted the dollar bill: E Pluribus Unum
I said amen, but added that until
in tempora restitutionis omnium quae locutus est Deus*
we’d all be busy squabbling, busy like
indigenous folk saying we are The Real People
busy like gang-bangers defending our turf
with mack 10s and Ouzis
busy like Shi’ite’s and Sunni’s
replicating Catholics and Protestants
replicating Conquistadors and Conquered
repeating history like Einstein’s
definition of madness—doing the same thing over
and over and expecting different results
over and over and over I’ve gone mad myself
in the struggle to find my way home
to find my tribe, to be where I belong
then I saw twin posts—one a beloved friend
in front of The Wailing Wall with an I heart
tee shirt on. Another from a new friend
calling Ya Allah—save my brothers and sisters
in Gaza! Oh God yes, and in Compton and Cleveland!
India and Pakistan! China and Tibet!
in red and blue and gay and straight
in slave and free and man and woman
in black white red yellow brown and
Yin and Yang, oh God yes
save all our brothers and sisters
and save us all from segregation!
Over cereal my wife told me I’ve been doing the superior dance
I sat corrected.
*the restitution of all things of which God has spoken
_____________________
—Medusa
