RULES

errant ones


bright white and thin
the wispy clouds
low in the sky
scamper across a backdrop of
slow moving bulbous masses
of grey weighty ponderousness


like carefree mischievous children
always leaving their elders
taunting, laughing at caution
determined to seek their own way
playing with Life
as long as Life allows


     - © pb 2011 -

 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
     
        belonging

if i follow all the rules, if i pay the dues
if i show up on time
if my shoes are new and my clothes are
the right degree of rightness
if i eat this – and not too much of it – and never that –
if i go to all the meetings, if i vote and give some money
if i laugh when i should and nod to the current favorite
but not to the dismissed one

then could i join the club?

but if my shoes are dusty
and i arrive a bit late and breathless
and i forget to knock or smile or bow
and i say hello to the stranger
who at the moment is unqualified
and if i bump into the table or fail to notice the new statuary
and ask for coffee instead of tea
(or is it the other way around?)

then i think you will overlook my name
when you choose names for the guest list

then i can take off my shoes
and hear the whisper of the winds
and watch the waving prairie grasses
then i can waken to first light when the meadowlark calls
and find my name again
written in clouds
and i can settle into the embrace 
that gives
and does not take away


   - pb 2012 -
                                                                                                                                                                                  

---