9.26.2020

all the wishes the moment can't satisfy.

If, in her next letter, she counsels me 
To live in the moment, I'll be glad to try 
So long as she doesn't expect me 
To set aside as mere distraction 
All the wishes the moment can't satisfy. 

I'm willing, for instance, to be more attentive 
On my walks alone to the river and back 
If she thinks I should be, so long 
As it's understood she'll be glad to read 
Any comments about them I want to send, 
Which seems to suggest that the moment 
Needs more than itself to be complete. 

And if, when she visits, instead of walking 
Down to the beach, she prefers to sit on the porch 
And talk about why her job in public relations 
At a resort hotel doesn't fulfill her wish 
To serve the public, I won't use her advice 
Against her, won't recommend 
That she try to be more accepting. 

I'll do my best to listen with sympathy 
And make suggestions about other work 
Available now that she might like more. 
And while I do, I may speculate to myself 
About work not available that might suit her best. 

It's easy for me to picture her as a scout 
On a wagon train, skilled in riding ahead 
To choose a campsite, admired for her prudence 
Whereas others, impatient to reach the end, 
Are liable to push their luck. 

For her to live in the moment then 
Doesn't mean believing the site she's chosen 
Is perfect. I can hear her admitting 
She wishes it lay nearer a woods, 
With fuel at hand for the cooking fires, 
Though she's glad there's a brook nearby 
And an ample patch of grass for the oxen. 

As for the river they've been hoping to cross, 
There isn't time now to reach it by sundown. 
Tomorrow she can help them find a spot 
Where the banks are less steep and rocky, 
The water more shallow and more slow.

[Carl Dennis {1939- } 'In the Moment', from Night School]

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