St. Francis Was a Flower Child

St. Francis Was A Flower Child

Here's how it is:
there's one part of us
that stays innocent no matter what.
Now, that innocent part of us
takes everything as it sees it.
You meet a cheerful guy,
you think he's cheerful all the way through.
But then gradually you get to know him
and he starts telling you how depressed he really is.
Bummer.
Or you meet a guy that's all together
and you think that all-together
holds to the very core of his being.
Then gradually
he starts telling you his fears, doubts, confusions
and the next thing you know
he's just like you.
What you learn and forget over and over is:
that perfect face you see on first encounter
is flawed--just like yours.
Everybody is hanging on.
I tell my therapist almost everything
but I don't ask too many questions.
I need that all-knowingness.
I need her to have it together.
We all need for somebody to have it together
even if it's only God.
That way we can maintain
that innocence that we need so desperately
to survive in a world
where the sharks outnumber the minnows,
where mercy is considered a weakness
and a loving heart a deformity.
In our hearts,
we all need desperately to be flower children
because when the flower dies,
we go with it.


Albert Huffstickler
August 17, 1995
from Damaged Goods
Posted over on Vagabond