Daily April poem: Word to the Wise

WORD TO THE WISE

here: click on the X

to close the browser window,

clap the clamshell laptop shut

resist the twitching impulse

to open up Facebook

in search of one more pellet

remember that in public spaces

the comments are a hive

of stinging wasps

take three deep breaths

all the way to your diaphragm

lower your clenched shoulders

steep your mind's tofu

in a gentle bath of poetry

seasoned with psalms

savor all five tastes

with no danger of sickness

in the hard drive or the heart

 

 

This was written for the "sometimes you have to walk away" prompt at 30x30. If you're interested in other people's responses to the prompt, you
can check out each day's submissions by clicking on each prompt link, here.

The idea that the mind is like tofu, and takes on the flavor of whatever it steeps in, is one I first heard from Rabbi Jeff Roth, who attributed it to Reb Zalman.

And, of course, others are writing to the daily prompts at NaPoWriMo. (I did attempt their sea chanty prompt, but wasn't happy enough with the results to share them here, so -- you get another 30/30-inspired poem instead!)