GETTING IT

for J.C.

For many years you don’t get it.
You know you haven’t gotten it.
But there’s still time and
maybe you’ll get it.

You cultivate the persons, places,
things that appear to have it.
What you get there is proof
that you still don’t get it.

It’s above you, beyond you.
It’s all Greek, which you don’t speak.
You need more experience,
you need more education.

You need the magic formula,
the password, the key.
You need a teacher, a mentor,
a confidante, confessor, referee.

You have tried hard,
been nice to people–
maybe nicer than you should.
How long can this go on?

Until you don’t care anymore.
Then in a desert breeze,
a written word, a flower’s heart,
you hear the temple gong:

you already have it,
you’ve had it all along.
.
.
GETTING IT

.
Originally posted in July 2013