Trio No. 16

1. 

Flight is thoughtless for her, the winged. 

As easy, I think, as letting a cold stream swallow my naked feet. 

2. 

If I am sad at the end of my life, I will soon forget my sadness. 

All that I have done and all that I have missed will be erased in an instant. 

I will not care who my children know, or whether they succeed in this thing or that. 

Nor will I care when the human race becomes extinct and is succeeded by some other creature.

Why then now should I care what I feel at any given instant? 

Or whether I have money or fame or anything good or bad? 

Who will I have hurt or helped by having made demands or requiring loyalty, fidelity, honesty? 

They too will forget with ease. 

3. 

A list of objects and compound objects:

A rain stick. 

A new clock. 

An earring on the sidewalk. 

A framed leaf. 

A black dog. 

Lichen on a rotting log. 

A window crack. 

A hummingbird. 

A new addition to the herd. 

Lemon juice. 

Fairy dust. 

The members of a brain trust. 

A pinecone. 

A looking glass. 

A long-discarded metro pass.