Walking on Ice

Saint Paul, 25 February 2006

If you spent as much time as I have looking down walking on ice

you’d know salt is Byzantine and gravel enlightened. Any need

for explanation illustrates my dilemma. My instinctual observations

on salt and gravel snatch your happiness leaving me on the floor

of an empty apartment wondering what’s going on back at the house.

If you spent as much time as I have looking down walking on ice

you’d know I talk to myself, embarrassing my wife and children,

interviewing myself day after day, asking infinitely thoughtful

questions and giving my full attention to the answers.

If you spent as much time as I have looking down walking on ice

you’d have already asked if fine food is like poetry, why is one

so expensive and the other free --knowing it’s because we need to eat

and knowing each stanza is like trying on a new clown suit hoping

to find one that’s comfortable and doesn’t repel the very persons

from whom we longingly seek approval.