Sometimes I sit
And try to describe to myself
How much I love you
How much you mean to me
And how my best memories
Start with we
Stay with me
You see, the words we and me
Are made up of the letters w, m, and e
Where w and m both take two u’s
Fused
Well,
I’m important because I have u
Whether it’s we or me
Without u, I’m just e
Which stands for…
Nothing
Cuz I require u
My heart wanders
When I kneel down to touch
Granite wrapped in lichens
Snoozing on a hillside
Scarred and stained erratics
Impregnated with earthy notes
A hint of a rutting bison
Nostrils flared to the sky
Scuffing an itchy woolen hide
Wonderous journal entries
Locked within igneous crystals
Entries of meadowlarks
Claiming their favorite spring podium
As great orators, declaring ownership
Windbreak for a tightly curled coyote
Shivering a tremendous blizzard away
Nose buried deep into fur
Eons of lightning bolts
Penetrating atoms dead center
A triumphant cry across the land
Once the heated splash of a warrior’s blood
Wrestling with survival
Or a prophetic seat for a horseman
With dealings
Contemplating, weeping
Tears fall to invigorate
Parched waiting lichens
Their rich ambiences
Of tangerine, mint, and lead
Photons collected and stored
Way beyond nightfall
With still a trace of the sun’s warmth
At dawn
Busy building beneath
Generations of red ants raise young
Disturbed by countless spring shifts and
Tweaks
Heaved by a thawing brute
And the great glacial pilgrimage
Birthplace to this place
Scattered how far is your next of kin
Deposited?
Any from palm or pocket to bedside?
Is it silly I could care for a rock?
Think like a rock?
Wander with a rock?
Sometimes
Life is not as it appears to be
Tricked by a minority
Hell bent
To twist headlines—two letters
Now simply, the majority
Be careful what you say
You see, my first impression
Delivered from Bitner’s news
Was Burleigh County residents
Desired to cleans themselves
Of accepting ethnic hues
In the form of refugees
To be branded a first
In the nation
A welling inside
Say this isn’t true
Signs say we welcome you
Everyone, the old and the new
What is a sign but that which
Signifies
Something, anything,
Have we lost everything?
Have we nothing left inside
Just material worshipping?
Dressed in red
Almost had me with economics
Yes our resources, our children are strained
Yet we have it all, but our heart is drained
Spiritual famine cannot go unexplained
Ah greed you evil root
We will never have enough
If today we can’t help you
Tomorrow we can’t help you
What we need is a shift of the attitude
Three fingers point back at me, its rude
I too must laser focus on my mood
And 25 annually we would just maintain
Whether economics or reasons I cannot say
It’s fear that ultimately
Leads the mind astray
Unity and compassion showed up at the door
Without each other, what do we live for?
Look up, Amos is circling the room
Reminding us,
Responsibility of actions or doom
The will IS the way
Continue to accept you another day
Amos was there to comfort the afflicted
And afflict the convicted.
We like to blame
Our lack of creativity
On busier lives
More responsibilities
Exhaustion of the grind
Oh so creative with excuses
But it’s creativity
That we need
To defy the existing
Conditions
Letting go
To create the marvelous
Opportunities that reveal
Our unique selves.
Killing time is insanity and vice-versa
Fear has kept you seized-up and shackled
Stifled
Under thumb right where it wants you
Trapped, mundane
The battle is entirely in your head
Keeping you hidden
Behind the asphyxial curtain
The only failure is you staying right there
Not believing in yourself
But you can save yourself
At this crossroads with yourself
Your authentic self
Holds the key
Grin, tuck your chin
Throw down a tectonic win
Extinguish your fear or
Continue to extinguish your passion
Only you can do
The ol’switcharoo
Pain you can’t control
But suffering you can
Stop living artificial
Blaze your trail; unlock your potential
Expose it; It’s quintessential
A glorious contribution
The world craves you
Make your life a masterpiece
Annihilate the taboo.
JEREMY DUCKWITZ 