Ambition leads to the demand for the shortest path between points to gain the most in the least amount of time; wonder calls the heart to explore the unexpected, nonlinear paths that often create a new unity that could not be expected when one first began.
(from Sabbath: The Ancient Practices
play list
there is much
to be done and
I am tempted
toward efficiency
the rush for
the reward of
accomplishment
it won’t last
there is much
to be done and
I am called to
wonder wide-eyed
and open-hearted
the slow turn
toward eternity
the slow turn
like the eighth
grader dancing to
the music in her
juke box head
homework can wait
I want her play list
her abandon
there is so much
Peace,
Milton
you know, milton. . . every now & then — & it feels like more “nows” than “thens” — yer blog comes at me out of nowhere. . . just when things seem down, like there’s a plan out there that is AGAINST ME BEING HAPPY; not like “it can’t get any worse” cuz that’s always a pile of it, but like “wow, i’m really all alone here, even in this cyber-jungle there’s just me, typing into the wind, it’s so overwhelmingly sad i don’t know if i feel like taking it on anymore”. . . somehow, in the middle of that, i get words from you that just cut right through all intimations of self-pitying solipsism. . . words from you, sometimes other people’s words that you introduce. sometimes poetry, sometimes prose, sometimes just a simple re-telling of a story that wasn’t complicated to begin with. . . but always, always, always, without fail, words that somehow remind me of SOMETHING. . . a half-whispered secret amongst the best of friends, a reminder of the eternal We, a hint towards the recurrent resplendent beauty that is there for the taking. . .
you always bring that beauty to the table.
i want her play list, too, & i yearn for her abandon — & your poem brought it right home to me. . . fleeting, sure, but there nonetheless.
thanks again.
mitch