more than I’d ever understood before,

self-respect comes before anything else

*

it simply has to

what color do I paint the rain

as it slides down a pane of glass?

how do I corral the wind

as it nestles in the boughs of a sycamore?

where do I unload the burdens

never asked or paid for?

why does the dark-eyed junco,

pecking scattered seeds on the ground,

forever make me smile?

I’m befuddled by others’ conduct

what odd & disrespectful behaviors

*

on display — rudeness, arrogance,

incivility, boorish disregard, self-

*

centeredness, envy, greed & contempt

what a withering indictment

*

sobering, sad, & disconcerting

this country, this humanity of ours

triangles, spheres, circles and squares

the shapes of our world

off-ramps to the expression & articulation

of every inner child’s untapped imagination

bolts of thunder

sweetly maligning

the ruin of song