(with thanks to Barry Spacks for the fine title)
practice 1:
Do nothing. At the moment
you feel your shoulder
pull back to strike the child
who has just hit his sister
and made her cry. In the next
moment, let the next plan rise.
practice 2:
Let the day know more
than you. Say it is raining.
Say there is a tree. Though it does
not keep you dry, there is a swing
hidden in the branches within reach.
Swing. Though you are drenched,
my god, it is fine to swing.
It’s a human nature and nature poem combined! Very nice. The practices we live by, but more about the choices we make, or don’t make, as you and Barry suggest. One suggestion I might toss out is to allow that last line of practice 1 to read
“In the next
moment the next plan rises.”
Just to let the emphasis on the word “let” in the next practice strengthen.
I love the idea of the swing hidden in th branches.