I Seem to Recall Being Shown a Way
I have whiled away years doing nothing at all.
I have studied belly-up cockroaches on bathroom floors and driven past children in diapers meandering the streets.
And I have sat idly by while other men build and buy and trade and acquire and win and lose.
I have breathed ever-so-slowly as masses of track-suited citizens hustle and bustle by.
I’ve watched men climb cliffs and dive headfirst into chilly, dark waters.
I sat there on the cliff’s edge and didn’t reach out to warn them.
Didn’t extend a hand, a thought, any good luck.
I’ve listened to men talk, talk, talk about the way the world is and who should be admired and who should be admonished without responding yay or nay.
All this time I have sat and am sitting still, observing with intent from afar, mind full of weary wonder.
And I have seen you replace worn shoes and outdated slacks and stained shirts.
Yes, I have whiled away all these years waiting, for what I don’t know.