hinc illae lacrimae (poem, revised)

Note: Some poems take a while to commingle intention with semantic flow. In August of this year, hinc illae lacrimae was published on Imagine a Bird and weeks later, the neat ending, especially, scratched the insides of my head. Originally, the subject of the poem had gathered enough energy and wisdom by the end of the poem to begin actively writing again and to polish up that guitar. That was quick! Now, they are more realistically inert, settling into a state of not knowing, yet still trying - in the smallest of ways.

I hope you enjoy it.

Today, a man and a dog were hospitalized.

Two different facilities

For two different struggling body parts:

The former for lungs

The latter for stomach.

Nothing much has happened

Since you left:

A coarse page covered with

Too many words became illegible.

The guitar bore thick

Layers of dust.

Well-intentioned affixes

Detached from their roots.

The same recipes

Cooked over and over.

The man, my brother.

The dog, my brother’s.

If time bent years into hours

Hardships tumble atop hardships

Cushioned by moments of

Espied goodness and shared laughter.

Just behind this house,

A day in a forest collects

Multitudinous tragedies

And virtues:

Pupae devoured, larvae devouring.

The towering majesty of Coast Redwoods.

Torn warblers’ wings.

A dammed river with a surface as sleek as glass.

Splintering deer bones.

Soft, bright green grass glowing under a slant of sun.

Rotting root after root after root.

It is not trite to try

To regard

The beauty

Amidst suffering.

It may take an entire

Lifetime of looking for

Balance, only to discover

The Ouroboros

Both ending and beginning

The search.

The day is coming to a close and

The dog is home.

New diet, a bottle of pills.

With lungs not expected

To strengthen, my brother

Will return tomorrow.

For awhile.

Still, a fresh sheet of paper

Sits atop the desk.

A soft, clean cloth

Lies near

The guitar.

I cook another old

Standard,

Adding one

New ingredient.

A nod to effort

May first involve the

Quiet applause for

Showing up.