Jonathan Bracker
Internal Dialogue
“I feel . . .”Who cares how you feel?Others feel too.
“I think . . .”So what? Surely youAre not alone in that?
“Let me tell youWhat I didToday.”
Go ahead;That is much moreLike it.
Do it,But leave outThe comments.
Self-Assessment
Perhaps I am rightTo think I amSo often wrong.
Maybe that isPart of the wisdomWhich comes with age.
Has the teacherHanded me my report cardWith its five low marks
As an invitationTo go back and study harderCompassion
For Self And Others,Acceptance Of What Is,Humility and Gratitude
And maybeEvenPatience?
Or did I just wanderinglyStumble into this wrong classroomYears and years ago?
Words You Can Frame
Wise women and men say and write sentencesThat get quoted. Some of their words becomePlacards you can buy on Amazon, and frame.
Buy them if you want,But do not frame them yetUnless their originator said, the way we are told
The Buddha did, “Question everything, includingWhat I say.” Leave them in a drawer and let them brew.You can drink from my fount, though. Me, you need not doubt.
Jonathan Bracker’s poems have appeared in The New Yorker, Poetry Northwest, Southern Poetry Review and other periodicals, and in eight collections, the latest of which, from Seven Kitchens Press, is Attending Junior High.
“I feel . . .”Who cares how you feel?Others feel too.
“I think . . .”So what? Surely youAre not alone in that?
“Let me tell youWhat I didToday.”
Go ahead;That is much moreLike it.
Do it,But leave outThe comments.
Self-Assessment
Perhaps I am rightTo think I amSo often wrong.
Maybe that isPart of the wisdomWhich comes with age.
Has the teacherHanded me my report cardWith its five low marks
As an invitationTo go back and study harderCompassion
For Self And Others,Acceptance Of What Is,Humility and Gratitude
And maybeEvenPatience?
Or did I just wanderinglyStumble into this wrong classroomYears and years ago?
Words You Can Frame
Wise women and men say and write sentencesThat get quoted. Some of their words becomePlacards you can buy on Amazon, and frame.
Buy them if you want,But do not frame them yetUnless their originator said, the way we are told
The Buddha did, “Question everything, includingWhat I say.” Leave them in a drawer and let them brew.You can drink from my fount, though. Me, you need not doubt.
Jonathan Bracker’s poems have appeared in The New Yorker, Poetry Northwest, Southern Poetry Review and other periodicals, and in eight collections, the latest of which, from Seven Kitchens Press, is Attending Junior High.