A RESPONSE TO BRAZEN WIND

bouncing around the corners of this mind's room
arriving again in public
wonder

i can see distant hills
carrying this same southwestern wind
into valleys greener

fear-flu media manipulations
a vague memory

amidst new colors
helping hands
unimagined demands

and a communal sense
not yet and not likely
betrayed by religious wars

lonely artistic inspiration
or even the secular love of money

soon enough
we shall see

________

now is the time
to build up strength
of a nervous system

unimpeded by excessive comfort
indulgence
dogmatic attachment

or too much too soon

as we each face enhanced prospects
for authentic outdoor urban lifestyles

where rather than developing nerves of steel
we will do much better

with such newly sprung
spines of cats