Three Short Poems

1.

If I knew what art was
I would say
Today you are in this world
Among six billion strangers
And 60 centuries of history
And 24,000 miles in any direction
And tomorrow you are dust
Art is how we try to understand this.


2.

To love a friend in this world
who enjoys silence
who believes without preaching
who finds beauty among strangers
To find freedom so near simplicity
To love a friend in this world.


3.
Blinded by a nearness to injustice
I seek equity to the point of mediocrity
My back turned on beauty,
I look for righteousness.
And the universe is a plastic set for my disaster.
What can I do and what can I change
If I fail to wonder at anything
Other than myself?

Sarah A Bean