Retreat

(another sweetelle)

…entering the ancient city,
descending into another world.

~ Robbi Nester, “Uttananasana”

When things get bad, remind yourself, there is another world.
The phone rings, startling you in response; you knock the coffee
over, and there’s a long spill on your desk. Restrain yourself—
the only casualties: paper and a foam-backed mousepad.
When things get bad, remind yourself, there is another world.
The sky’s cerulean: impeccable behind the windows.
Quiet your jangle of nerves, breathe deep, touch index finger
to thumb and make the shape of petals. Behind each surface
is another layer, a deeper sleeve: go there, retreat.
When things get bad, remind yourself, there is another world.

 

In response to Balance by Robbi Nester.

2 Replies to “Retreat”

  1. ANOTHER WORLD

    Where is the other world?
    Why is it the other world?
    Sounds like a spare tire,
    doesn’t it? Don’t worry.
    Blow your chances here,
    and you will get another.
    It is a quick visit anyway,
    you would not regret it.
    It is the ration store across
    the abandoned churchyard.
    You will even find an extra
    heart there, when yours
    turns callous and blind to
    all that it was made for.

    Was it for love? Don’t worry,
    there’s an overstock of that
    in the other world. That is
    what is in that other world.

    Is that not what Good Friday
    is all about? God took back
    His boy, and hoarded it there
    in his unreachable warehouse,
    beyond the magic of flowers
    and the ardence of caress,
    because our vouchers would
    not guarantee enough supply
    just as it always ran out here,
    when kindness and courage
    were all we needed to protect
    the world we know would take
    us when no one wants to pick
    us up from where we have fallen.

    Where we have fallen, where
    we could no longer get up from,
    why not have another world
    instead and be at peace at last?

    —Albert B. Casuga
    04-06-12

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