Avoiding beautiful September

1

The personal is boring

as are my ruminations on the war.

What I need to do I can't try: 

wander without shelter in the backcountry.

Or go deeper into the polity, 

join a committee or a party.

Minute by minute and season to season

I like my life but what does it add up to, what reason

to go on? No better than a squirrel

or a spider. Spreadsheets, fake books, girls

I want too mildly, modestly or morally to have.

Can the economy and community be called love? 

You can be killed and buried in gravel

Your children can be failed at school and marched to war

You can be taxed and sent to gaol for the honor of it

And there's nothing you can do about it.

Will we find the universe not large enough to hold us? 

Will planet after planet be too old for us? 

If you were president, what would your program be? 

What one question is the key

to another's truth. How do you spend your money? 

Do you believe in a god who can see

all and understand? Or is he

unable to care, a different species.

2

We take the long view

that as individuals drop

from sight, new enthusiasts

will associate. Legs

give out, lungs collapse, 

but we do not let the circle lapse.

For every Aristotle

there are a million toddlers

who will advance no memorable

theories. But the mist

on trees and mountains, 

sunrise over desert, are for

every merchant, traveler.

My sons will take on cares, 

which toys are theirs, 

as their parents grow

older. Slowness brings us

to our goal: do one thing well.

By that what is meant? 

Don't be a dilettante.

Not having found the greatness

of a single, clear description, 

definition, the greatness comes in

doing everyday what's known.