Wonderful, powerful

Wonderful, powerful, important words
I found today in Deuteronomy:

“for our lasting good.”

“Our” in this case, a people. Not a person.
“Lasting,” to think past the moment.

Now there — there is a phrase worth diagramming.

Worth pondering, worth knitting, worth chatting about over breakfast.
Worth adding harmonies to. Worth writing down.

Worth being reminded of.

Worth passing along.

Collateral Love

I’m the victim of a collateral love experience.
The love that tears through the space around,
tries to connect and disassemble
people sitting around and
behind me.

I’m caught in the love bomb.
Irradiated.
Stabbed with shards

with melodies
that tear into my shoulder, my
back, my knees. The
walls buckle as the wave bounces.

My wife is there too. At my side.
And she feels it
burst through the room, along
with the singer’s smile.

She feels the love that wasn’t
meant for us
at least not just for us
the love aimed
at the back of the wall.

We collapse into it.

We break together.
As the theater lights
blink on.