DIFFERENCES
Sometimes you’re up
on a rotating stage
with a crowd of thousands
bathed in light
chanting together
your name
your name
your name.
Other times you’re in bed
earlier than usual
covers tucked,
and warm like a child
not a sound but your heartbeat
all alone and wondering.
And both are good.
LIBERATION
Try not to let
your personal pursuit of happiness
be disfigured
by public opinion
on age
and income.
GET YOUNG
To be on youth
is to not take seriously
the world
which we are told
from the outset
is held together
almost entirely
by serious matters.
ART PROJECT
Draw a picture
of the thing you love the most
and beneath it write a small description
of how and why.
Take that picture and make fifty copies
the size of business cards,
cut them out and put them in your wallet.
Each time you meet someone,
instead of giving them your phone number
give them this card.
Once the first fifty are gone,
make fifty more.
Change the picture and the description
as often as needed.
Repeat until you’ve met everyone on earth.
TOUGH LOVE
If you’re getting too caught up
thinking you’re big time
hard as a nail
wise to the street -
keep in mind
that Martha Stewart
went to prison
when she was 53 years old
and already a billionaire
from selling recipes to your grandmother.
THE MUSIC WE CHOOSE TO HEAR
Sunday afternoon. A woman stands on the corner, playing violin.
A child watches from a distance as the people pass, hustle and bustle, paying her no attention.
“Why don’t they stop and listen to her music?” The child asks his father.
“It’s like they don’t even see her.”
The father thinks for a moment before answering-
“Sometimes the older we get the more often we think we’ve seen everything. And the more that we think that we’ve seen, the easier it is to just keep on walking forward worrying about what we’re going to see next, and how we’re going to feel when we see it.”
On the corner the violinist plays with such spirit her music soars, swirling up and around the strangers. They push through it, avoiding the notes like a heavy rain, heads down, bodies barreling. The child takes it all in, then looks toward his father, curious-
“But what if the next thing they are supposed to see is that woman on the corner playing a beautiful song on her violin? And what if they don’t even notice her because they think they saw her already, and they think they already heard that song?”
The crosswalk changes signals as the father readies his reply.
“Well, that happens too. It happens every day. But the best we can do is to try and remember to stop when we can, and listen to this music, and even if we’ve heard it before, imagine what it felt like that very first time.”
They approach the violinist and her song washes over them. The boy holds his father’s hand and smiles. The father smiles back.
The violinist closes her eyes and pours her soul into her instrument.
They’ve never heard this song before, and it is beautiful.
ANSWERS
“How did we get here?” the child asks.
And his teacher tells him “Science.”
And his preacher tells him “God.”
And his father tells him “Go ask your mother.”
And his mother tells him “Don’t ask questions like that.”
And over by the window, sitting all alone, looking out at the city his great grandmother simply asks him-
“What do you think?”
