DEDICATIONS, PLEDGES, COMMITMENTS. For the past. For my own path. For surprises. For mistakes that worked so well. For tomorrow if I'm there. For the next real thing. Then for carrying it all through whatever is necessary. For following the little god who speaks only to me. --William Stafford

Friday, September 28, 2012

The Departed and the Unborn

The Departed and the Unborn


Beautiful, in their cloaks of light,
their hair a gauzy filament of
spider webs, they pull me out
of this room by my hand to that place
where the holy becomes art, and knowing God
is eternal life.

They cover my shut eyes with coins.
They make a necklace of my teeth,
and like the Bathers at Asnieres, made only
of dots of pure grace,  like points
in a Seurat, they oblige the eye and mind
of the beholder into a lexicon of wholeness.

They are wise as serpents,  harmless as doves
Do they have ears? Yes, but they are stopped
with clouds.  Their lips move.  They say
nothing to me.  Their eyes are sewn shut.
Oh, you departed, you unborn, tell me
your names again, for I have forgotten.



JED  9-29-12


About Me

My photo
1. In dreams I am often young and thin with long blond hair. 2. In real life I am no longer young, or thin, or blonde. 3. My back hurts. 4. I hate to sleep alone. (Fortunately I don't have to!) 5. My great grandfather had 2 wives at once. 6. I wish I had more self-discipline. (I was once fired from a teaching position in a private school because they said I was "too unstructured and undisciplined." --Who, me??? Naaaahhh....) 7. I do not blame my parents for this. Once, at a parent-teacher conference, the teacher told me my little boy was "spacey." We ALL are, I told her. The whole fan damily is spacey. She thought I was kidding. I wasn't. 8. I used to travel with a theater reperatory company. My parents weren't happy about this. 9. My mother was afraid that I would run off and paint flowers on my cheeks and live in a commune, and grow vegetables. I once smoked pot. ONE TIME. 10. I don't drink or smoke. (Or swear, much. Well, I drink milk, and water, and orange juice, and stuff. Cocoa. I love Pepsi.) 11. Most of my friends are invisible. 12. I am a poet and a writer. All of my writing on these pages is copyrighted. Borrowing (without acknowledgment) is a sin.