A tall old guy with a resonant voice

And a medium-brown corduroy jacket
just accosted me outside the store
asked me if I could imagine a world
without war and i thought buddy
i can imagine a lot of stuff
i can imagine eating my cottage cheese
crackers and imitation Oreos
i can imagine everyone sharing the abundance
we’re swimming in every day
i wanted to ask him
can you imagine god created all this out of nothing
out of herself since if there was nothing
for starters, but god, then
all this is god can you imagine god doing
that without being all this? the crow
and the peanut
the garbage and the garbageman?
god is watching you thru my eyes right now
and so on
but he had his spiel
his resonant spiel and said something about
the Lord’s Prayer, of course you know that
and I thought buddy, i’m an ordained minister
that would’ve been on the test if there
were one of course i know it
i took his pamphlet but i’m really
busy so i glanced at it and tossed it in
the garbage can after i crossed the street.
i wonder if he always thought about this stuff
or if he only started after he retired
and had free time to think
but i can imagine thy will be done
but what will
who knows how crazy god is
i can imagine peace between humans and birds,
even bugs – dude i watched
a young man save a bug on the sidewalk
on my way back to the office.
i wanted to fist bump him and say
right on man
right on.

Zzzt zzzt zzzt

i gave the crows
ok like hang on
i got a new coat.
a friend was in town and it was cold and rainy
so i bought a spring coat
rain coat but not as warm as my winter coat
and a nice fabric so i don’t go
zzzt zzzt zzzt when i walk
you know what i mean
lightweight sort of trenchcoat looking
but no belt (those always get tangled up)
and black
but also no dog kibbles in the pocket
so i bought peanuts this morning
in the shell
for the crows
and the crows were all, every one of them,
like:
man what is this?
peanuts?
people always talk about feeding crows peanuts
in the shell
and i used to feed them peanuts thinking
cracking the shells makes it interesting
gives them
something to do but
they like the Frolic! brand kibble better.
and they all hesitated before taking
a nut
they all looked at me
the way i look at the ceiling at night
when i can’t sleep
or the horizon when i get
into another fight with a loved one
fight or misunderstanding
or screw-up
thinking
i hope i sleep better tomorrow
i hope we get along tomorrow
i hope this builds character
i hope there is kibble again
someday
but on the other hand
on the other hand
to be fair
and without wanting to jinx anything
i have also been very lucky
i have met interesting people
i am doing interesting things
i am doing things so scary i am still scared 2 weeks later
friends visit from out of town (see above)
if only i could sleep
knock on wood

On tardigrades

Upon waking this morning, I noticed that my mind was already working full bore, considering tardigrades. Specifically, wondering whether, if they are so good at surviving inhospitable environments, they survive the human digestive tract when accidentally (or, I suppose, purposely) eaten and if this is so, whether their number is growing to the extent that the proportion of tardigrades in our food is increasing such that, some day in the future, all of our food (and all of our poo) will be pure tardigrade. Or, I also wondered, would tardigrades elect to remain inside us, and if so, will they find a way to control our thoughts and actions? It is not an unrealistic outcome, considering how tardigrades, besides being extremely attractive and hardy, are also intelligent and wise beyond the limited ability of humans to comprehend and suitable leaders for this planet and all planets, without exceptionnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn