Poetry

the difference of a letter

Joan and a morphine derivative

both infected people

ruled armies

many died because of their

crusades

both professed a higher power

both burn

both were outlawed

one held under an injunction

the other an injection

now one is a saint the other illegal

know and now

the difference of a letter

-Lauren McKinley Renzetti

-april 1994.

at first

all I notice is the brim of his

slate grey hat

his dog is trim with a beautiful

beard of  blue grey

he walks with a slack leash and a stick in hand

meandering where

the dog leads them

the face on the stick

is the same as the man

smooth bald, wrinkled, a face with a beard

an urban guru

st francis incarnate

both with a mission

god dog what is the difference who is guiding them?

-Lauren McKinley Renzetti

September 1994

eleven floors up

can’t hear the rain

only the sound of car

ssssspray

on damp ash fault

eleven floors up

can’t see the rain

barely see the wipers move

on windshields

eleven floors up

the window is open

can’t see the wind

only know it’s there

cause the trees are tilted

eleven floors up

surrounded by five hundred people

isolated

in my own cubical of space

eleven floors up

I am helpless

powerless

can’t change anything from way up here

everything

seems -so –small

I am only eleven floors up

what floor is god on

that he is so

blind to our going’s on?

eleven floors up and I care

I know he does

but we have put him on such a high pedestal

That he can’t look down

for fear of falling.

-Lauren McKinley Renzetti

April 1994.

an order a hierarchy

to talk to flirt

to click with someone

to go through the layers

like an onion

you learn what they like and don’t

aspirations and failures

you can’t help but learn

secrets are exchanged

events happen

a bond,  this shared experience

links you.

Passage of time

Is important

Thirty seconds or ten years

then the public and private viewings

intimacies

a hand shake/ a hug / a kiss

then

naked

exposed, you lay it all out

A buffet-

Of you.

then second and third layers

you shower, you eat

you drink

you pee with the door open

then the fourth layer

body functions and health

and of course money

are all discussed with no disgust

then it starts all over again

but deeper

it was pleasantries the first time

you weren’t expected to remember

now you do

the effort is made

because that other factor

has developed

You Care.

you care about their feelings

and who is in their life

i won’t say it is love

it may not be

but one tries and hopes

someday it may be

maybe not with this person

maybe not right now, but soon

or with someone else

and you will always learn from them

you can’t help but learn.

-Lauren McKinley Renzetti

April 1994.

so many people

streaming like ants

on a leaf

swarming

loving

worshipping

living dying

being cremated

cremating others

to sit

to wait

to med-i-tate

to be –one- with –yourself

to see how small and insignificant the

one is

when looking at

the past

at the

monolith that stood the test of time

the elements

and man

what could I ever do

that could stand that test ?

to be a creator of an organized religion.

-Lauren McKinley Renzetti

April 2004

A man

Sits quietly on a bench

And loudly throws bread

White wonder

The pigeons go

Wthloo wthloo

Always coming back for more

He shakes with glee

Crinkling his white plastic bag

Murmuring the national anthem

I am tempted to join

The crazies

The zanies

The nonsensical

They still notice

Still enjoy

The finer things in life

-Lauren McKinley Renzetti

September  2004

if society reflects the individual

and the individuals beliefs

and I am an individual

then how come society as a whole

doesn’t  have the same beliefs

i do?

i get my belief systems from the world around me

and my experiences in that society

mine should be the same as everybody else’s?

NO

we are all individuals

and our society should reflect that

it doesn’t

i am considered a deviant

i don’t like coffee, or the governments actions

i don’t like war or cars or cigarettes

so of course society calls me a deviant.

-Lauren McKinley Renzetti

April 1994

May this Wide World ever

Be New to you.

May the tiniest details

Be always Clear.

May the noise of the day

Recede

So you can enjoy the Now.

May you leave

this Place with Space

in your Heart and Mind

For Wonder, Magic and Love.

May you be  Connected

One  with your surroundings.

Blessed Be.

-Lauren McKinley Renzetti

April 2013