The day breaks turning

the sky that bright glass blue

of a perfect summer day alluding to

time to hang wash on a taught cotton rope

to catch the scent of wind within the fibers of woven fabric.

 

A doubled blinding white bedsheet undulates and snaps in the breeze.

 

Actions and motions that have been consistently repeated

 

upon this planet,

at one time or another

point in time, point of longitude and latitude

 

just a subtle shift

 

A soft towel to place on naked skin to catch

dripping water after cleansing, readying to dress for bed.

 

just a subtle shift

 

Now naked and shorn and waiting to see

if the cleansing will be from water or gas

waiting to see if life is now ending or if

there will be time to dream

 

as heart tissue pounds life support

beneath a layer of skin that longs

for the gentle touch of sunlight free

from barbed shadows to bathe in.

 

just a subtle shift

 

Images of individuals cling to our collective conscious

cyclically refreshed when they begin to soften

by the belief that the thread has been broken that knits

the patriotic into the ethnocentric.

 

Actions and motions that have been consistently repeated

 

upon this planet,

at one time or another

point in time, point of longitude and latitude

 

just a subtle shift

 

We all have been slaves, conquerors, killers, saviors,

mystics, midwives, artists and logicians.

It seems apparent that we are woven more

from common material than foreign.

 

just a subtle shift

 

Allows the luxury to stand tailor made

in the emperor’s new clothes of civility

and view the sterilized landscape of time covered

under letters that represent names, numbers that represent

dates and statistics and the points of longitude and latitude

 

that veil the humanity to be found in

faces in smile, voices in laughter, and the scent

of breath laced with garlic and spices mingled

with fermented hops or grapes from the drink

that accompanies food as nourishment for body and soul.

 

just a subtle shift

 

To be born in the wrong place

at the wrong time, leaving a legacy as

a plea to be remembered and not let it happen again

 

upon this planet,

at one time or another

point in time, point of longitude and latitude

 

Perhaps we will learn from our mistakes

instead of cleansing the stains from our woven heritage

and hanging history out on the line to dry.

 

just a subtle shift

do unto others as you would have done unto you