You Don’t Have
to Suffer
By Craig Nielson
You don’t have to suffer
like the hungry finches
who arrive like Penitentes
when the irises
first glean themselves
into cerulean skies.
You don’t have to save
the drowning in Bangladesh
or stop the soybean
plantations from creeping
over the volcanic hills.
You don’t even have to mow
your lawn or watch the cirrus
drift over the horizon like mist
above the king’s castle.
You just have to listen
for the faint sound of cellos,
and look for the shimmy
in the summer maples,
then start your way up
whatever mountain
may lay before you,
humble and steady
like a goat.
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