Manifestation

we face the calendar, pen in hand, readily ink
in our presumptions, as if each day’s a caravan
each hour a beast of burden to be packed with
actions and commitments, so much baggage

we try to carry on the journey, much of it
just legacy, souvenirs of habit, but we stay
too busy to take the picnic-stop, savor
the small treasures we have gathered

reaching end of day with marked-up manifest,
a cargo checklist of what’s been accomplished,
what’s deferred, this only leaves the hours
hungry, exhausted, weak, unable to bear more

so as again we’re planning, filling saddle-bags
securing bundles, this time let’s slow a bit, discard
a few things we no longer need, let go those items
whose purposes we’ve outgrown or forgotten

and when we rearrange what’s left
after this lightening, leave two of these hours
free of other baggage, open and available
for guests:

one camel for wonder,
one pony for joy

—Laura M Kaminski
12 06 2014
In response to/inspired by the last line of Dave Bonta’s “Broadcast.”