Meditation
A fruitful one!
I remember logs burned
to several thousand squares
of bright red coal. I turned
to another man there
and said, “They’re like a town
of glowing homes.” Last night
after work, walking down
my street, I saw hard, white
light from street lamps falling
on cars and dirty snow
and I thought, “These freezing
months, they seem to never go.
Tonight I’m feeling cold;
I am like a warm breeze
losing heat to an old,
high, dark sea, until I freeze.
The old folks - man and wife -
next door are weak, dying.
Like ashes I see their life
Flaking and then falling;
She is blind now and they
both must clean, shop, shovel
the walk, cook, talk and play
in pain, barely able
as they are going out. -
I have friends constructing
their own house I think about.
They have planned a building
which the sun will heat,
which earth will insulate,
which, when it’s complete,
will allow them to create
something more while living
in warmth from what they’ve done
Already. - I’m thinking
that lately I’ve become
ready; just as fire
in the first age struck the sea
and started life, desire
has stuck inside of me
and I look up and see
out the window of my room
my neighbors; they seem to be
glowing. I want a home.
There names were Joe and Catherine, from the Ukraine. When I knew them they were over 90.
I went and got the home and now, over 50 years later, I think my wife and I are as happy in each other as they were. I wish I could thank them.
@Copyright 2026 William Marsh - all rights reserved
Wonderful and touching, with many lines offering pleasures in themselves, like "I have friends constructing / Their own house I think about" and "in the warmth from what they've done / Already."
Good poem !