Choice and Freedom

CHOICE AND FREEDOM

I contemplate the alphabet of Predestination
crumbling apart, separating into letters
that will not organize themselves
into traditional sequences,
that will not obey the shouts of a sergeant
in a close-order drill, will not obey
the rhythms of barked and ordered steps.
I watch the letters scatter into disarray
to become proud misspellings
as the letters drift
towards pelicans and sea gulls.
I celebrate the freedom I feel and the choice
that came from an impulse in a car wash,
a decision not from knowledge, not from wisdom,
not from calculations or the fantasies of logic,
a random decision that tore apart the ancient plot
Of the Great and Terrible mother of many myths.
Now I sit with six cats, a dog,
and a glass of Shiraz
imagining letters that refuse to organize
themselves into ABC’S.
I feel the chaos in the language of lies
that people speak in their daily lives,
and I feel the wonder of miracles.

Duane Locke

Posted over on 4*9*1