"Disbelief"

 

He gently sets the box down at my doorstep, 
   releasing the color of his uniform into my delivery. 
I nod, and thank him,
   looking stunned.
He asks if there is anything wrong, 
   I simply reply, "Oh, nothing.”

His tall presence matches the verticality 
   of his company's logo, 
   U — United 
   P — Personal 
   S — Sovereignty

But my reaction is entirely horizontal . . . 
   as if speaking from a Covid ward. 
Now, relearning to talk after a 15-month 
   pandemic stroke,
I see but cannot track, 
   breathe but cannot sing, 
   think but cannot determine the 
   pitch of my being. 
   
Days later,
I am finally grasping this man's presence, 
   beyond a statistic, 
   beyond a debate point,
   beyond the unacknowledged
Truth of our complicity in what the planet simply calls
   a ReSet. 

I am leery of getting vertical too soon, 
   or too brazenly.  
I need to transition back into 
   Belief. 

 

June 2021

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©2021, Michael Smolens