Welcome

When the simple and

straightforward ones arrive,

with their sickle-shaped

sentence-ending punctuation,

asking – even sometimes begging –

for a declarative response,

if not an exclamatory one,

we often go into game-show mode,

swinging for the fences.

Check off a whole list and,

before you know it, you may have

completed a standardized test.

But when the deeps arrive,

plummeting beyond intellect,

to the resting of still waters,

an alternate modus operandi  is required.

Here, flailing toward resolution

is not only futile,

but also counterproductive.

Extend an invitation

for a leisurely tea ceremony,

letting ritual's familiarity make space

for a question to rest in your heart,

unanswered, sans anxiety.

This is a place – both a physical location

and a measure of time –

out of which imaginations are fueled.

Steep yourselves together,

that answers may fall away,

and hope plant her hook-like seed

deep in your heart.

© 2015 Todd Jenkins