may still prick our feet as we trudge hopefully
along, but there will be moments of sheer
incandescent joy.
As, for instance, when Alice found herself
face to face with someone she had loved long
before he was born.
I have loved you since way before you were
born,
she said to him.
He looked skeptical.
He was dressed like a handsome bumble bee
and this made Alice happy
because she loves bees.
They are the reason everything happens
thinks the farmer and flower grower in her
heart.
How can that be? He finally asked.
Simple, she said to him:
It is because I loved your parents.
When the world learned that you were
coming
some thirty-five years ago
I said a special prayer for you:
for your safety, for balance in life,
for your health and happiness.
Really? he said.
Really, she said.
And now, look at you:
a young man still,
but wise and thoughtful.
Someone who can talk sensibly
with someone twice your age.
And a woman, too!
You are well raised. Alice continued.
All of my prayers
seem to have been answered.
Thank you. He said.
They talked for a long time
and
amazing to Alice
it was as if she’d stumbled upon a wise
old man
from the mountains:
he had much to tell her, much to share
about the austerities and the benefits of grief.
She was enchanted. She was restored.
She was so happy
it was almost more
than she could stand.
This solace of love and understanding
that could become a resting place
for the sorrow in her own heart
over something rare
that she had lost in her own life
that somehow complemented
something and someone he lost
while still a child;
something
that gave him so much gentleness
and compassion.
From Kisi, Kenya
Kwamboka Okari sent the photo of the girls’
dorm
to Alice
with a note: Look what we have done with
some of the gift
from Yoko Ono and her husband (this made
Alice chuckle).
Alice was so happy she started to sing a song
that once
meant the world to her: Changing
the lyrics
only a little:
All we have is love;
All we have is love;
All we have is love, love;
Love is all we have.
And she felt so lucky to know in her heart
that this is a major moment of
enlightenment,
this awareness:
once again she gave thanks
to her new friend’s father
who sang so many years ago
and with such gusto
that it’s just as well that love is all we have
because love is all we need.
Alice and Sean Lennon
***
Alice and Kwamboka
This is Alice and Kwamboka
Sitting peaceful
on a sofa:
the green king
of blues
communing with Lucille
just
behind us!3
***
May It Be Said of Me
May it be said of me
That when I saw
Your mud hut
I remembered
My shack.
That when I tasted your
Pebble filled beans
I recalled
My salt pork.
That when I saw
Your twisted Limbs
I embraced
My wounded
Sight.
That when you
Rose from your knees
And stood
Like women
And men
Of this Earth—
As promised to us
As to anyone:
Without regrets
Of any kind
I joined you—
Singing.
***
And Do You See What They Have Bought with It?
You have bought
Foolish hats
From madmen
In Paris
You have bought
Shoes
You never
Intend to wear
You have
Bought
Cars for
Each day
Of
You ride
Faster than
Our donkeys
Can
Think;
Splashed with
The perfume
of our mothers’
Tears.
On
Television
You appear
In all your
Innocence
Wearing the spectacles
Whose frames
Our turtles
Unwillingly
Donated to you
With their
Shells
You speak
About our danger
To you
Our anger
And envy
And greed.
You are genuinely surprised to see us
Not only standing
But even more
Mysteriously
Armed, absolutely,
With the graceful
Power
Of speech.
But we were busy
In those shacks
&
Mud huts
Before dark;
Before the mosquitoes
Drove us
From our books.
We know
What you take
From us
And what
Useless things
—never love or peace or happiness—
You buy
With it.
***
She
For Gloria Steinem
She is the one
who will notice
that the first snapdragon
of Spring
is
in bloom;
She is the one
who will tell the most
funny
&
complicated
joke.
She is the one
who will surprise you
by knowing the difference
between turnips
and collard
Greens;
& between biscuits
& scones.
She is the one who knows where
to take you
for dancing
or where the food
& the restaurant’s
décor
are not
to be
missed.
She is the one
who is saintly.
She is the one
who reserves the right
to dress
like a slut.
She is the one
who takes you shopping;
She is the one
who knows where
the best clothes
are bought
cheap.
She is the one
who warms your
home
with her fragrance;
the one who brings
music, magic & joy.
She is the one
Speaking
the truth
from her heart.
She is the one at the bedside
wedding, funeral
or divorce
of all the best people
you dearly love.
She is the one
with courage.
She is the one
who speaks
her bright mind;
She is the one
who encourages young &
old
to do the same.
She is the one
on the picket line, at the barricade,
at the prison, in jail;
She is the one
who is there.
If they come for me
& I am at her house
I know
she will hide me.
If I tell her
where I have hidden
my heart
she will keep
my secret
safe.
She is the one
who
without hesitation
comes to my aid &
my defense.
She is the one
who believes
my side of the story
first;
She is the one
whose heart
is open.
She is the one who loves.
She is the one who makes
activism
the most compelling
because she is the one
who is irresistible
her own self.
She is our sister, our teacher, our friend:
Gloria Steinem.
Born 75 years ago
Glorious
To your parents
& still
Radiant
Today.
Happy Birthday, Beloved.
The grand feast
Of your noble Spirit
Has been
& is the cake
that nourishes
Us.
We thank you for your Beauty
& your Being.
Namaste.4
***
Our Martyrs
For the Egyptian people
When the people
have won a victory
whether small
or large
do you ever wonder
at that moment
where the martyrs
might be?
They who sacrificed
Themselves
to bring to life
something unknown
though nonetheless more precious
than their blood.
I like to think of them
hovering over us
wherever we have gathered
to weep and to rejoice;
smiling and laughing,
actually slapping each other’s palms
in glee.
Their blood has dried
and become rose petals.
What you feel brushing your cheek
is not only your tears
but these.
Martyrs never regret
what they have done
having done it.
Amazing too
they never frown.
It is all so mysterious
the way they remain
above us
beside us
within us;
how they beam
a human sunrise
and are so proud.
***
The tree of life has fallen
For the departing dictator, in perpetuity
The tree of life
has fallen on my small house.
I thought it was so much bigger!
But it is not.
There in the distance I see the mountains
still.
The view of vast water stretching before me
is superb.
My boat is grand and I still command the captain
of it; not having learned myself to sail.
But I am adrift
without my tree of life
that has fallen heavy
without grace or pity
on this small place.
***
To Change the World Enough
To change the world enough
you must cease to be afraid
of the poor.
We experience your fear as the least pardonable of
humiliations; in the past
it has sent us scurrying off
daunted and ashamed
into the shadows.
Now,
the world ending
the only one all of us have known
we seek the same
fresh light
you do:
the same high place
and ample table.
The poor always believe
there is room enough
for all of us;
the very rich never seem to have heard
of this.
In us there is wisdom of how to share
loaves and fishes
however few;
we do this every day.
Learn from us,
we ask you.
We enter now
the dreaded location
of Earth’s reckoning;
no longer far
off
or hidden in books
that claim to disclose
revelations;
it is here.
We must walk together without fear.
There is no path without us.
***
Blessed Are the Poor in Spirit
“Blessed are the poor in spirit (for theirs is the kingdom of heaven).”
Did you ever understand this?
If my spirit was poor, how could I enter heaven?
Was I depressed?
Understanding editing,
I see how a comma, removed or inserted
with careful plan,
can change everything.
I was reminded of this
when a poor young man
in Tunisia
desperate to live
and humiliated for trying
set himself ablaze;
I felt uncomfortably warm
as if scalded by his shame.
I do not have to sell vegetables from a cart as he did
or live in narrow rooms too small for spacious thought;
and, at this late date,
I do not worry that someone will
remove every single opportunity
for me to thrive.
Still, I am connected to, inseparable from,
this young man.
Blessed are the poor, in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus. (Commas restored).
Jesus was as usual talking about solidarity: about how we join with others
and, in spirit, feel the world, and suffering, the same as them.
This is the kingdom of owning the other as self, the self as other—
that transforms grief into
peace and delight.
I, and you, might enter the heaven
of right here
through this door.
In this spirit, knowing we are blessed,
we might remain poor.
***
What do I get for getting old? A Picture Story for the Curious!
(You supply the pictures!)
I get to meditate
in a chair!
Or against the wall
with my legs
stretched out!
(Or even in bed!)
I get to see
maybe half
of what I’m looking at!
(This changes everything!)
I get to dance
like the tipsy old men
I adored
when I was an infant!
(They never dropped me!)
I get to spend time with myself
whenever I want!
I get to ride a bicycle
with tall
handlebars!
(My posture improves!)
I get to give up
learning to sail!
I get to know
I will never speak
German!
I get to snuggle all
Morning
with my snuggler
of choice:
counting the hours
by how many times
we get up
to pee!
I get to spend time with myself
whenever I want!
I get to eat chocolate
with my salad.
Or even as a first course!
I get to forget!
I get to paint
with colors
I mix myself!
Colors
I’ve never seen
before.
I get to sleep
with my dog
& pray never to outlive
my cat!
I get to play
music
without reading
a note!
I get to spend time with myself
whenever I want!
I get to sleep
in a
hammock
under the same
stars
wherever I am!
I get to spend time with myself
whenever I want!
I get to laugh
at all the things
I don’t know
& cannot
find!
I get to greet
people I don’t remember
as if I know them
very well.
After all, how different
can they be?
I get to grow
my entire
garden
in a few
pots!
I get to spend time with myself
whenever I want!
I get to see
& feel
the suffering
of the whole
world
& to take
a nap
when I feel
like it
anyway!
I get to spend time with myself
whenever I want!
I get to feel
more love
than I ever thought
existed!
Everything appears to be made
of the stuff!
I feel this
especially for You! Though I may not remember
exactly which You
you are!
How cool is this!
Still, I get to spend time with myself