MaNHaTTaN Linear

by Sheila Desmond

Poets talking about “The Way We live Now” made me think about introducing audience participation, letting each one who reads this poem think of writing their own list poem about the way we live now; in an open mike forum it would become performance poetry…………

The Way We Live Now

Tense, stressed, suspicious
Anxious, worried, hurried, enraged, outraged,
Bewildered, sad, no longer shocked.

Feeling guilty because you have food, medicine,
loved ones safe near you?, the fear that
any of this can be taken away at any moment?

But isn’t life uncertain? It has always been so,
Change is the only constant,
Alone?, never. Every thing is interdependent
And interconnected……….

Relax, let it go, enjoy each moment
Speak slowly, take deep breaths,
Meditate, be silent, listen to the music and message
of the Universe, the birds, the bees, the trees
are whispering “we are all in this together.”

There really are things we don’t know, don’t yet understand,
Keep on, keep on being kind
Be considerate, be thoughtful
Help one another………………………

—NYC April 30, 2019