To return to your eyes

 



Accordion by Teddy Macker

There are no more roses anymore,
even though there are roses.
Fastly tightening, people looking down
into their hands, styrofoam everywhere,
energy drinks, plexiglass, porn,
there are no more accordions,
no more bluebirds, no more freckled girls
and rivers, rivers of water. But we - 
we must make prayers again.
The navel of every human
is lonely. The innocent countries
of the back.Shoulders
like night-quiet pines.
Don't ask for God.
Don't ask for happiness
or liberation. When you pray,
ask for the world
to return to your eyes.

The poem above has haunted me since I encountered it. It seems so creatively expressive of the way things are...when we look away or look down in our preoccupations or absences. We miss so much. And we are not aware of how much it matters. 
And yet we desire happiness and freedom...
Perhaps it is there.
The roses are there whether we see them or not; so are the buds of spring and the golden pollen; so are the frisbees and balls coming out of garages. bike tires are being pumped up; shorts are being worn, and flipflops. Resurrection life is everywhere if we pay attention; if we look up!
What is it we are looking for when we stare at the cement or at our navels? 
"Don't ask for God./Don't ask for happiness/or liberation.When you pray,/ask for the world to return to your eyes."
Signs of resurrection point to a freedom unrealized. When the world returns to our eyes we glimpse its possibilities, which are quite simply there to be noticed.
Look up and see the blue grace of eternity; allow it to return to your eyes.

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