Recipe to Avoid (Write It!) Despair
by rebecca ~ May 25th, 2007. Filed under: Ordinary Muse, Poems & art.
photo by keiko fukue 2007
The recipe to life isn’t complex. A few basic
ingredients: clean water, food, shelter, and hugs,
blended with generous dollops of humor,
compassion for the downtrodden, respect for all life.
Cultivate the seedlings of self-love with care.
Sprinkle yourself with red pepper upon a dark occasion,
and pour on the pure maple syrup when sour.
I suggest fresh-cut ginger or lemon zest
whenever the doldrums hit. Shut your eyes
and hum a made-up tune if Mom or Dad or
Teacher belittles you or, later on in life,
look up the habits of hermit crabs on the Internet
if your boss dismisses you with the flick of a wrist.
The most important thing to experience–after a purple
faced, swearing woman tries to gun you and your son
down with her white SUV as you cross the street–besides
rainfall and its lush aftermath of saturated green is the lifting
of your face up to the sun with your son in your arms.
Keep your eyes closed to see the red orange flare
of your soul, be thankful you live to love.