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Posts Tagged ‘labor’

The Man Who Rings Me Up at Target

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on December 19, 2024| 4 Comments »


 
 
tells me he used to be mean.
Tells me used to not like
who he was. Tells me he dreamed
of his mother after she died
and she told him that though
she was no longer with him,
she still could teach him
how to be alive, which,
in practical terms, meant
how to be kind.
In the time it takes for me to buy
lint rollers and lip balm,
I am so moved by this woman
I will only meet through
a dream and a checkout lane
conversation that I walk out
into the night with a smile
on my face. This is the way
we share hope with each other,
one thin strand at a time.
By the time I get to the car,
I’m still smiling, wholly tethered to life
by a gift that appeared so slight
at first I didn’t even know
it was there.
 
 

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Drinking Assam Tea

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on November 20, 2019| Leave a Comment »

 

 

Malty, bright and voluptuous,

the tea meets me this morning,

and though I’m alone, the kitchen

 

is filled with other hands—the

potter’s, for instance, that threw

and trimmed and pulled and glazed

 

this favorite mug into mugness.

And the hands of the harvesters

in India who gathered the fresh green leaves

 

of the second flush, then

spread them on a tray and left them

to dry in the sun. And who rolled the leaves?

 

And who gathered them after they aged?

I wrap both hands around the mug

and inhale the musky scent of tea

 

and marvel at how much humanity

went into this simple cup. I stare

at my knuckles, my fingers, my palms.

 

It’s your turn, I tell them.

Serve the world well. Can you make something

so bold, so strong?

 

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