Rewording

I do not wish to simply

write my will upon the backs

of other people’s words,

like forcing weight upon

the shoulders of camels

Sometimes when grading

a paper or providing a bit of feedback

there is that moment when I use

my pen like a weapon,

glittering edge

Invading the tiny space of letters

with new ones, removing

some phrases and planting them

elsewhere, heartlessly.

Lost Site

Working I found

myself waiting on the spinning

wheel, only to then find

my words and actions suddenly

(ruthlessly) deleted,

lost somewhere in the electronic

chasm that exists between me

and the rest of the digital world.

Someday maybe those words

will reappear, configured in a new

way.  I may not even recognize

them anymore. 

Thank You, Mona

Oh, Mona Lisa,

thank you for teaching

me today at the coffee shop,

a lesson in how to smile

without smiling

I’ve always tried to offer

strangers a warm mitigating

grin that says, trust me.  

I’m not so bad.

Maybe it seems childlike.

I don’t know.  It certainly

feels that way.

Modicum of wordless kindness.

But you taught me today, Mona,

not to soften the edges.

Let them be jagged,

no grin at all.

JD DeHart

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