Parable

It’s a deceptively simple story

spoken at a volume and tone

that are just beyond your

auditory capacity, more at the level

of eavesdropping than conversation.

It leaves the front door cracked,

knowing that you cannot resist peeking

and then sneaking inside to get

a better listening to and look

at what you believe to be an imagined,

but still intriguing tale about

people and places that are

wholly (but not holy) “other”.

When the words stop flowing,

if you find yourself gasping in surprise,

both because you didn’t realize

you have fully become a character

in the story, and because this took you

all the way to people and places

you’d never approach on your own,

the parable has accomplished its task.

If you completely avoid that breath-taking

experience, you can rest assured you have

escaped unscathed, but perhaps, not with your life.

© 2013 Todd Jenkins