One of my heroes is Jacob Needleman, a fine professor in the Humanities (Philosophy, Religion, liberal dashes of psych and soc) in San Francisco, SF State, I believe. Professor Needleman has guided my thinking over the years. Over at Froth From Walt, Sensei suggests to Walt that it is time to post excerpts of the good doctor's fine work fairly often. This poem came from one of those times.
Raise Me Up
On the sea of worlds
I float, low in the water,
Heavy with my burdens.
I recall life on dry land
In some other warmer realm.
I wish truth from there
To lift me here, raise me up,
That I may be good.
***********************
AA says, the whole of the program lies in this phrase, "Trust in God, clean house."
That was on my mind when I wrote this poem.
Not A Trace
Just do it! Keep on!
But my heart fell out back there!
Look, red sprays show where!
Pause, breathe in, hold, let it go.
Amble back and do the work.
Cleaning as I go,
I leave nothing behind me.
Not a trace of mess.
Contraction
1 week ago
It works like this:
ReplyDeleteWalt:Sensei as slave:Master
I.e. a "mathematical" relationship.
Clean This House
ReplyDeleteI sat beside you
Looking for right direction.
You said, "Clean this house."
I said, "I'm no slave to you."
Your eyes changed, shone so brightly.
My heart broke right then.
I stood up and bowed to you
Then got the straw broom.
G'mornin Walt.
ReplyDeleteTom recently discovered Needleman, is very impressed - I found a review of 'Lost Christianity' at a blog called 'Slow Reads',and thought it might interest, which it did.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard, isn't it getting up to clean up at those times?