Because I Brought You Here
– After “First Fall” by Maggie Smith
there is so much I hope
for you to know.
So, I point to things and say—
pay attention to the mist
as it rests on the ocean’s surface,
how its radiance transforms
by the second.
Look at that man,
how he gently converses
with the child;
this is true masculinity, a reverence
for innocence and life.
Notice the barn owl visiting
at dusk, who recognizes
that your vocal chords resonate
to the same tones his do.
See the teenager whose ensemble
and hairstyle tell a story
of how she heeds
her own guiding light—
what courage and grace
in today’s age of followers.
Greet the jackrabbit
living under the garden cart;
even though she was taught to fear,
see how she perks her ears
towards you in longing
of forgotten oneness.
I so want you to see
the perfectness of how we fit
together—the wonder of this world.
Because I brought you here.
Yellow Brick Road
Off-ramp from the freeway
at the end of a long day,
and a young man sits
there on the dirt,
dog sleeping by his side.
He’s leaning against the stop sign,
cardboard with block letters held
in his weary hands,
eyes attempting to lock
with mine.
A mother’s son, I think.
Asking for what?
Money is the obvious,
yet I know it’s more than that.
And Lord, how do I give him that?
I find myself
like the Tin Man
searching for a heart
as a line of cars presses
from behind,
so I signal left
and make the turn,
not heeding his plea for help.
I’m disappointed in myself,
how I’m able to continue
machine-like towards home.
To Be Remembered Like That
She lived with her eyes wide open
and was kind.
Like Snow White, she talked
to creatures large and small, loved
them all, as much the lizards
and spiders as the deer and hares
as much the vultures nesting
in tall eucalyptus as the hawks
and owls who lived around her.
She planted seeds
of affection and liked to help
when help was needed.
In the name of kinship,
she walked the hills and dunes,
connecting with the energy of trees
and birds of every feather.
The woman had seen,
as we all have,
how in an instant
life can shift sideways.
This more than anything
taught her to live fully, with her eyes
and her heart wide open.
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