Saturday, October 23, 2010

In the Background While a Comforting Song Plays

The man next to me
is saving the world
(no, don't look to see what he's doing!)
His fingers are typing
in furious waltz time
salvation equations
composing, tight-browed,
the fruit of his singular
place in the crowd.

Soon he will laugh like a jester
and erase what he wrote,
the words that could end
so much pain.
Complete in his answer,
there's no need to weigh down the scale
or get inside other men's heads.

For some unknown reason,
the world has no use
for perfection.
Abysses of pain and wars that won't end
are the smallest conceivable means
to get our attention,
to give us what we call
life lessons,
to show us how to love,
how it begins and ends
in our minds.