LOVE IS ALL THIS AND MORE

I am sorry, world... I take that back, my apology is larger than that. I am sorry, universe, for the promise I broke. I promised to post a poem a day to make the world a better place. And then tragedy struck, one that broke my heart, and shattered my faith in the world.

And I thought, "Why make the world a better place when the world is so cruel?"

Then, just as I was regaining my feet, another tragedy struck, and again I blamed the world. Just as I was regaining my feet, yes, another tragedy struck, and then another and then another. I didn't know if I was going to survive, and my interest in poetry, what I consider the very foundation of the universe and existence, simply disappeared.

I didn't want to help a world that obviously didn't want to help me. I was bitter. I was angry. I was confused. And, in rebellion, I stopped posting.

This was going to be a permanent rebellion and, every day, I told myself that I was going to take down this blog as it represented my broken promise to the universe. (Could there be anything worse than that?)

And then, yesterday, perhaps the largest tragedy of them all happened. And yet I'm still alive. Still able to smile despite everything. Still able to keep my heart open. And I realized the universe has been with me the entire time...

And so, today, I begin my task anew--to post a poem every day. Little gifts to a universe that has given me so much in return.

LOVE IS ALL THIS AND MORE

A dancing clown,
a minstrel’s song,
the chattering beak of a wayside wood thrush
peeking its head through fecund families of forest fern—
love is all this and more.

A saccharine goodbye through soul slipping lips,
an empty room, an empty house, unheeded homecomings,
a breakfast table once bent under bliss
now begging to be so burdened,
a half-used bed now twice too big,
the sad cry of a suitor made stronger through silence,
love is all this and more.