Some Things Are More Real Than Others

Some things are more real than others.
Like the creamy fresh milk right out of the cow
Who ate the grass in your pasture
That grew in the soil you built with compost
Made with the left-over produce grown
In the garden and greenhouse from the seeds
You harvested last year from the previous garden.
This scenario is not built on scaffolding that can easily fall.
The house of cards beneath McDonalds and Safeway
Will disappear in a day and take you down with it.

Some things last longer than others.
Like the kiss of a spouse who has worked beside you
To reach the same goals for twenty years
Of hardships and good times, highs and lows
While you got to know each other by
Staying close even when it was hard, believing
That anything worth having is worth fighting for.
This relationship is a oneness that difference in opinion
Cannot shake or unmake— like the brief hookups
That leave you so lonely and scarred.

Some things are more satisfying than others.
Like counting shooting stars on the deck
While drinking chilled home-brewed mead
And listening to the cattle dogs sing in three part harmony
And the coyotes answering from a safe distance
Before you go inside to make love
Slowly, with the glad knowledge your lover will be there
Happy to make love again tomorrow.
This life is not air-conditioned and insulated
But it’s stresses are simple: making sure the new lambs are suckling
Before the sun gets too hot and drives you inside for iced tea.


Some things are harder to attain than others.
Like the freedom that you hope to live in, but have not yet experienced
Because of the gods who demand a heavy tithe
In order to ensure your healthcare, safety, and acceptance.
After all they have taken, there is never enough left
To buy your freedom. And so your slavery continues.
The open fields beckon, but you’re not sure you can make it
All the way across to the tree line before the dogs catch you
And the gods take their due from your quivering flesh.
It isn’t easy. But having done it, I can tell you - anyone can.
You just can’t hold any allegiance to any god
Or any promise, beyond the simple natural provision
Of creation itself, and the goodness of it’s Maker.



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Last Edited by WLA on 08/18/2019 04:19 PM