OH ! FOR THE SAFETY

OH ! FOR THE SAFETY
 susan ambrosino

The complicated churning of one individual

bouncing off the complicated churning of another individual

creates a living chain reaction of complications radiating

from the dinner table, to your bedroom, through all the greatest rooms

of your house.

You're aware of a sad person standing alone with

the understanding of your own humanity:

humble, fragile, mistaken,

fingering many emotions like you would finger fine fabrics:

the soothe of silk

the comfort of  cotton and linen

the brusque fiber of wool

the harshness of burlap:

burlap

that tough sack that holds the seeds and beans of your thoughts.

The mind can go places the body can't. The mind never

stops, even when the body sleeps.

It thinks of tough burlap, how it withstands rough handling,

it's loose weave breathes, yet was never worn except for

religious mortification….

You know cotton and linen burn steady and slow,

they smell like burning leaves, you can blow them out

like birthday candles,

silk and wool burn like hair, fast, with the smell

of flesh and blood.

The synthetic polyesters, acrylics, burn like wild fire,

melt as they burn, sticking to your skin.

And you feel the mind going dark, but that is not what you intended.

It was joy you wanted to talk about.

The mind's contents sometimes mold, spoil, and rot.

A dropped cigarette can burn your house down.

Oh ! for the safety of synthetic atmosphere:

acrylic denial, polyester illusions,

nylon happy-faces to wear each day.