Passage Six: Instances and Moments
In February of 1972,
I was in Tallahassee, Florida.
I was lecturing for
The Inner Peace Movement.
Someone had arranged
For one of us to speak
On the university campus,
On the outdoor commons,
Where there was a stage
For such purposes.
It was the lunch hour, and I had been told
If people thought me interesting,
Several hundred would stop and listen.
No one did.
I stood up there with a microphone
And spoke while no one stopped
And only my traveling companion
Sat and listened to me.
I felt like a prophet on the city wall,
Except no one bothered
To even throw a stone.
I do not know
If I have ever felt more foolish,
But that would be hard to gauge.
I remember a young woman
Who came to hear us speak,
There in Tallahassee at the hotel.
We met one-on-one later
For counseling,
And I remember feeling
I had been able to help her.
There is no doubt,
I was ridiculous,
But I was other things,
At the same time,
And I still am.
I wish I were better,
So I could better be of service,
But if I were better,
Perhaps I could not serve as well,
Perhaps I could not understand as much.
Despite every reason to,
I cannot give up,
Not because I am certain
I will succeed in the end,
But because along the way
And in the midst of everything,
There are instances and moments
In which light shines.
