Fools' Errands - Poetry Suffuses Prose

    I have words

    For many things

    Ideas and thoughts roaming and percolating

    Wanting to write

    Expound

    Articulate

    Project

    Engrave

    The plans (I heard my daughter say)

    Some folks write concrete acts

    Deeds and rules, laws and statutes

    Others uphold them, enforce those laws and standards

    Many of us wander between them

    And march along before and after

    Watch the seasons, the times, the winds, the flows

    Nature and humanity

    The skies and industrialization

    All of it.

    Thinking back

    Reflecting

    Time spent abroad

    On a vacation

    Or a trip

    A mission, a duty, a deployment, 

    A voyage, long or short

    A microcosm of life

    Living and breathing away

    From home

    Tropics and plants

    Beaches and hills

    Buildings and streets

    Cars, buses, and trains

    Where was I?

    1983

    1995

    2006, or thereabouts

    

    I once dressed up every day, made sure to shave

    Conservative haircut

    Shirt and tie

    Walked and talked with people like me, or not like me

    Some liked me, some did not.

    Some I liked, too.

    I would share and preach, walk and teach.

    Sit, or lie, and listen.

    All of it.

    Dark skies and the heavens

    Clouds of wisps or rain

    All shades of the nebulous forms

    Some cold and shivering

    Some warm and humid

    Causing sweat or moisture across the lobes

    Feelings and senses

    Big and small

    Talking to my daughter far away

    Speaking with my wife in my warm home

    On a cold night

    And where was I?

    Where were you?

    You were with me.

    I thank you.

    Thanks for being there.