There is a Sleep

There are some, who
Having struggled against the sun,
Have absolutes
Repealed all variety in nature from their senses.
Creatures of infinite variation -
Their tasseled tails and dapples hues
Flung carelessly against the moon
To casue their wild beauty to be given away
Extravagantly - even against these
There are some whose motto often repeats in the air:
Reducio ad absurdum, which always means
"Nothing outside my own limitations
Can be thought to have substance." These (and they have
Generation and populations)
These have all gone to sleep,
While the melodious shimmer of God's hand
Plays lightly in the night.

There is a sleep from which some
By cultured acquiescence
Have tenon ores against the tide of their ow nature
And, grimacing, held their place in the swirling stream
By anchors to any doctrine
Crying, "Out!, tidal demons!" and therewith
Curse every joy that watches in puzzled wonderment of this struggle from the shore.
The they speak harshly to the lovely grass, calling it "Your vanity!,"
Then, beholding all the lovely creatures that beckon them in
Cry out against the invitation, and would sooner drown then be
Thoght less a warrior by quitting their tirade against the flow.f
[Water was not mean to vanquish our energies
(though often enough some of our brothers sleep in her depths)
But to quench thirst and fire, to provide
And to nourishing blood through veins in the earth.]
Those tired struggles, like blood born diseases,
Shall all be washed away, because they would not unanchor,
Would not row to waiting tribes of earth, and dance.
There is a sleep to which some are eternally consumed.

But you, my lovely family, who have so often beckoned to the dance of life,
Who have yourselves walked healing paths through nettles that blistered every footfall,
Who have sufficient beauty to hallow your stories and make them a nie language,
You, you, you, be outrageous, and taking all in, be the inclusive world you year for.
Leave no one out, even those asleep, for they most deserve your grace and your love,
Being, as they are, insufficiently kind to receive their own wounds.
Remark only that the sun is shining, ther rain falls, all is good, and everything is
Yes.

Copyright © 2005 James Lawer