If you ask what I believe,
\nI would reply,
\nnone of what you believe,
\nand much more.
\nBecause I\u2019ve taken all my doors
\noff the hinges.
\nI have collected the world\u2019s truths,
\nand lies, and whims in great boxes,
\nmore than I can absorb at one time.
\nEvery person leaves a deposit,
\nold pots, new tunes, longings,
\nlace for a table, a doll, a ball,
\nand I put it in my boxes.
\nSometimes, one to a person,
\nsometimes a bag,
\nseldom a truck,
\nbut I\u2019m open and I collect their beliefs,
\nif for no reason than they are beautiful
\nto me, important.
\nLike a fire crackling with wood,
\nseasoned in its life,
\nfull of salt and spices and mold,
\nand unless you include them all,
\ntheir picture is not complete.<\/p>\n
Their mournings remain a mystery,
\ntheir tears simply water
\ndissolving in the air.
\nSo if you ask what I believe,
\nthat\u2019s my problem.
\nI have no boxes.
\nLife comes like a torrent,
\nfull of sunshine and rocks
\nthat pile along the edges of myself,
\nhere a place to stand,
\nmarsh and grass, and lobelia
\nblue as eyes.
\nThere a pile of granite stones,
\nfirm and forthright and eternal,
\nand places where the trees themselves
\nfall in my river,
\nno moorings,
\ngiven to flood and quick storms.<\/p>\n
And in my lifetime,
\nthere will be no time for me
\nto know anything in its final truth,
\nto construct a house of ritual and shadow,
\nto bow my head or wave a flag.
\n I\u2019m in the collecting stage.
\nThere\u2019s no time for the geology
\nof creating mountains,
\nsomething permanent and forever,
\nexcept I\u2019ll sit on those owned by others,
\nand read their books before a flame,
\ncasting each page to the fire,
\nas I learn who they are,
\nand what they believe.
\nUntil sunset.
\nUntil I am gone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
If you ask what I believe, I would reply, none of what you believe, and much more. Because I\u2019ve taken all my doors off the…<\/p>\n