Edge of the Gorge
Man is by nature a political animal —Aristotle
Man is by nature a political animal —Aristotle
 |
| Judith at Barton Public Library, 2018 |
Tell me
stranger at this political divide,
what
thresholds you failed to cross,
what you
lost, that there’s more
than
nothing between us.
Freedom
of thought, soft as Lambs-ear,
cashmere,
fragrant as thyme-walked
ground.
Somewhere between love & hate,
atheist
& saint. Even Tolstoy wrote first of war.
Peace
falls like spring rain, an eagle feather.
Tell me
neighbor of thresholds you failed
to
cross, what you lost, that there’s more
than
nothing between us.
“Can you
divide this apple into three halves?”
your
daughter asked, feeding other hungry mouths
as she
opened hers. Division as portioning.
Peace
drops like a whisper between prairie warbler
and lark
bunting, one feeder, tern and gull, one shore,
low tide
and high. Over mountains, plains, drop
all your
thoughts, friend, until edges give way, tell me
of
thresholds you failed to cross, what you lost,
that
there’s more than nothing between us. I’m wary
watching
the broad-winged hawk circle, dive & rise.
Let
stones shake from the ground up.
I want
to feel the lift of your breath
on my
cheek as you speak.
~ Judith Janoo
