What You Need

What You Need

Tired of being alone, you open
your doors and invite people
to press their feet into your carpets,
drink wine, and talk
about politics, movie stars,
and the meaning of life.

Alone again, you muse
about how women and men
long for extended seasons of love

and how all you know of the world
is asses braying,
a lion's roar,
garlands celebrating your house
that if your philosophy is skepticism,
no one can dispute the words you spread
out on the sand under the sun;
that if you fill cups with water
and feed hungry children,
who will deny you your ambition?

that favors turn up in unexpected places. . .
You meet a man in the road
carrying luggage with foreign stickers,
and ask him how things explode,
to explain spontaneous combustion,

to carry your grocery bags
to speak plainly of plans,
to sit down on your sofa
to write a letter that talks about
how hard it is to see
the obstacles that lie ahead.

And then you stand near the desert
not knowing if the sun rises or sets,
knowing only the time to cover your face
from the drying winds.
It's sleep . . . or . . .love . . . .
or  . . . God  . . .you need.

(c) 1997 Binnings ALL RIGHTS RESERVED