tell me

2019

tell me
there is glory 
in the endless, minute movement of things
the invisible quotidian shuffling that abides
the thousands of daily pushes and shoves 
just to maintain
to get by

tell me
there is meaning 
in the meals 
and quarrels
in the bribery
“negotiations” shall we say?
skinned knees quelled
goods baked
manners forced
bedtimes won
faces cleaned
coats on
quandaries solved

in the simplicity of presence
the permanence of just being

because, otherwise
it may be
I’m just wandering 
these multiplying aisles
awash in that fluorescent pulse
of all the things needed
pined for
eventually procured
treading water here

striving to maintain 
what was hastily built
and, occasionally, to advance 
in the slowest possible division of time
to creep forward
not in sweeping tracks
but rather atom by atom
dragged forth
as if unwilling

tell me there is meaning here
tell me there is glory 
in this gorgeous, tensile work
of keeping living things alive