Seeing

Photo: (c) Jamie K. Reaser, The Bush Man

You were given eyes with which to look

and a heart with which to see.

How blind the human heart.

There is a man on Jefferson Street in

San Francisco sitting behind two branches.

If you approach him, he’ll lurch out

with a growl and a grin.

He’s desperate to feel seen.

There are troubled young men in ghetto blasting cars,

women in skimpy cloth on littered street corners,

actors,

politicians,

people standing next to you,

and knee-high children yanking at their mother’s skirt

all longing to be held in an acknowledging heart’s gaze.

For many of them…

a turned head,

a blank stare,

and projection

will be all they ever know.

They are anonymous on the inside.

Turn your attention within.

There is a newborn at breast seeking affirmation

in your hold and expression.

There is a toddler taking first steps,

a kindergartner with scraped knee,

and a confused pubescent teen.

Have you ever noticed?

These are the unmet aspects of you

who scowl at those out there

out of jealousy and fear

that someone else will

achieve wholeness.

This is your inheritance,

and mine.

When did love become such a

scarce natural resource?

I asked this of the raven

and he showed me an unlit candle –

no light in the darkness,

no flame in the heart.

Set it on fire!

Oxygenate your tender corizone

and throw it a spark…

See what I see –

Mirrored back to you:

A glimmering timeless soul,

A radiant one deserving of endless earthly affections,

A unique story worth countless witnesses,

The essence of a piece/peace of us all.

Of us All.

Each being unseen is a tragedy of universal soul loss.

Open wide the eyes of your heart.

Peer through the breaks, cracks, and tears –

they are there for good reason.

Look. See.

Please.

© 2010-2020/Jamie K. Reaser

Published in "Note to Self: Poems for Changing the World from the Inside Out" 

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