It is Necessary to Understand

Free verse

It is Necessary to Understand

 

It is necessary to understand
the drawing of a circle:
      Diameter, radius, area,
      Circumference,
      π r2.  The mind
is such a handy place for facts.

Galileo, here
sit down a while and
tell me,
is it really
so important to make observations
of the moon eternally
waxing and waning in the pond?

My mother
scarcely knew her age when
she was led to the grave, like so-
by 6 weeping men,
her elegantly long, thin disinterested
fingers
appropriately clutching the bouquet...

My father made grand flourishes and circles in the air
with his great cigar
                  We non-exist two times,
                  he said,
                  to once.
                  The darkness is
                  supposed to be that way, you
                  know.
                  It is a mystery how
                  the flesh is made.

These amber-colored molecules of tears
are capable
of so much grief like
slanted winter rain
constantly falling perpendicular
to the roofs of tin.

Author's Note

To my Mother