Sunday, August 3, 2008

The Headlands, 1998 (For Patty and Denis)

Little Human Being,
You have the key to it all in your hair.
You have the key to it all in that toenail
That you're digging into the sand.
And the species is tamed in that eyelash
That you just brushed away from your face
With the hand you will use to unravel
All the knots in the human race.

Little Human Being,
You shake the ocean of peace from your feet.
Do you have to return to the barracks?
Do you have to return to the street?
If you get through all that do you promise
That you'll find your way back to the beach?
And will I find the courage to practice
All the wonderful things that I preach?

Little Human Being
I was up in the Headlands today.
I saw my first snake in the grass scurry by
And to me it had nothing to say
I'm glad that I haven't been tempted,
And I'm not the one we can scorn
If we wind up evicted from this paradise
And waiting for you to be born.

No comments: