Beyond Badges and Barbed Wire
 
Baklava
 
River Run
 
Perfect Pen
 
Red Ride
 
Raven Heart
 
Tsunami
 
August 4th
 
Urban Spring
 
Yellow Canyons
 
Edge of the World
 
Silver Weaver
 
Grace
 

 
That Wild Thing 

So often, as I sit at my desk,
calendar in hand,
and wonder about life 
with no schedule, 
no to do list. 

How does it work? 

Don’t we all want to know 
that part of ourselves  
with no meetings, 
no deadlines, 
no clocks?
That wild part
free of thank you notes, 
shopping lists
laundry
cleaning
diapers?

It is where lion runs, 
below blazing Sahara sun, 
yellow mane ripples,
balmy breeze strokes face. 
Wild beasts move
from their stomach’s growl 
an ache in their bones, 
not from desktop calendars
dotted with blue and yellow meetings 
soldiers lined up alongside each other 
day after day with no space for a long inhale 
or a stiff cup of black tea .

Isn’t it what our bones and marrow call 
for from the jungle within? 
“Come play with me, 
come run along ocean’s edge, 
build castles in sand, 
paint pink polka dots on paper for no reason.”  

I glance down at the clock, 
telling me how much time 
I have left to write. 

The truth is 
we never know.

How much time we have left, 
that is– to breathe, 
to love, 
to walk amidst pear trees, 
to smell salty ocean, 
to kiss your lover with an open heart. 

We never know. 

So throw out the clocks, 
burn the timers, 
find the rhythm with no watch, 
no schedule. 
Watch your dog, 
your cat, 
your child. 

They know.



 

 Diane Sherman   /   March 2008