What it's like to Wander

How I Live Well

The sky, in its blueness,
Reminds me to be slow
In life. When the bitter
Sting of the wind, or hearing
Bad news fuels my fires, the heat
Brings me to my mind's parapets.

As I stand at the edge of my parapets,
I stare out at the vast blueness
Of my internal oceans. The heat
Inside my chest begins to slow
Its burn, and the lull of hearing
The ocean sweetens life’s bitter.

I can’t live without the bitter
Chill, but with these parapets
I can look out on myself, hearing
Waves crash on the shore, blueness
Overwhelming all else. Their slow
Repetition cools my former heat.

I can’t remove the heat
From my chest. Much like bitter
Chills, all I can do is slow
down, understand-from the parapets
I frequent in my mind-the blueness
They leave. I stand, hearing

Seagulls and people, hearing
A drowning hum of life. Heat
Festers in the chest, but blueness
Anchors itself in the soul, bitter
Traces left even on your parapets.
We all need to be slow-

Not literally, but be slow
And thorough in observation, hearing
All of life from our little parapets.
Don’t let fire leap from our lips, heat
Enveloping one another in bitter
Spite. Don’t listen to your blueness.

Your blueness has you hearing
A slow hum that fuels the heat,
But don’t let that bitter your parapets.