I shout into the wind
\nbecause all the words are gone.
\nI carry bags of weightless mementos,
\na collector of trash and heaven.
\nCome look in my bags.
\nOne is for laughter,
\nnot raucous,
\nnot happy,
\nbut innocent.<\/p>\n
I laughed in surprise, in wonder.
\nOnce at a clown
\nuntil I saw him weeping.
\nOnce at death,
\nbefore knowing pain.
\nIt is laughter made of shyness,
\nand surprise,
\nsuch is my laughter.<\/p>\n
Another contains pages,
\nnot books.
\nLetters and notes that spoke for me,
\nleft me breathless,
\nopened up the sky.
\nOne is a poem that gave me poetry,
\nanother,
\ninstructions how to pray,
\nthough I speak to God without prayer.
\nJust pages,
\nwhich someday will fly away like birds
\ncaught in a storm.<\/p>\n
Then still another bag
\nfull of voices,
\nthe sound of brothers,
\nforgotten friends,
\nlovers,
\nand strangers saying kind things
\nto each other.
\nIt is a deaf man\u2019s bag,
\na well of noise
\ncoming from the earth.<\/p>\n
And then,
\none for trash,
\nfor strange and unusual sticks
\nand boxes,
\npotions,
\nscraps of pleasure,
\nto puzzle over and forget,
\nall forgotten things that fill up earth,
\ndebris and emptiness.<\/p>\n
So I\u2019m a collector of sorts,
\nready to give it all away,
\nto have the table cleared,
\na barren space,
\nlike sitting on a hill,
\nlistening to the world sing
\nand be silent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I shout into the wind because all the words are gone. I carry bags of weightless mementos, a collector of trash and heaven. Come look…<\/p>\n