I see the unending, uncaring universe,
\nand my mind spins like a pinpoint galaxy on an angel-head axis,
\nso I work smaller.<\/p>\n
I see plains on fire and bellies swollen with emptiness,
\nand I hand out my single sandwich and wave away the grasping hands,
\nso I work smaller.<\/p>\n
I see stars and stripes as asterisks to mask screams of profanity,
\nand my clear voice only adds to the cacophony,
\nso I work smaller.<\/p>\n
I see paints poured into sewer grates from golden pots,
\nand they run in to runoff, raising rainbow soap bubbles in slippery streams,
\nso I work smaller.<\/p>\n
I see people cloistered so close they are closed,
\nand, I like them, put my nose to the grindstone, until it peels the irises off my eyes,
\nso I work smaller. <\/p>\n
I see the simpletons in the seats, snickering so they know they have support,
\nand I point the same way and howl, my finger out as a growl,
\nso I work smaller. <\/p>\n
I see my belly crack as it creaks wide, comfort claiming creases,
\nand I know the tears will abate for a few hours,
\nso I work smaller. <\/p>\n
I see the tarnish on my silver thread
\nand the scrubbing only rubs it red,
\nso I work smaller.<\/p>\n
I brush my teeth,
\nand check it off the list.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I see the unending, uncaring universe, and my mind spins like a pinpoint galaxy on an angel-head axis, so I work smaller. I see plains on fire and bellies swollen with emptiness, and I hand out my single sandwich and wave away the grasping hands, so I work smaller. I see stars and stripes as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[1,10],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p73iP8-K0","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2862,"url":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/?p=2862","url_meta":{"origin":2852,"position":0},"title":"Your Daily Digest: The Chore of Society","date":"3\/15\/2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I had to stop at the grocery store before I came home, because we needed things like milk. As I lamented the needless contact and meandering fogginess of the people around me, I saw a new friend of whom M and I have become quite fond. We exchanged brief small\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ennui"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":713,"url":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/?p=713","url_meta":{"origin":2852,"position":1},"title":"In due time","date":"2\/5\/2008","format":false,"excerpt":"In due time, I will, as you do now, stand astride my conquests and trumpet myself in and my name shall be my herald in strange lands At present, I am smaller than my shadow speaks enclosed in miniature representation It will not always be so I will not always\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Poetry"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":38,"url":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/?p=38","url_meta":{"origin":2852,"position":2},"title":"Why I need less spare time.","date":"1\/29\/2004","format":false,"excerpt":"(With apologies to smaller people). An IM with Czelticgirl about this yielded the following regrettable conversation: SB: Seems like exploitation. \"Look at the freaks! they have different genetic makeup!\" CG: Look at the freaks try to get a date! SB: And midget porn sales WILL spike. I guarantee CG: Just\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Best of the Buddha"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":773,"url":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/?p=773","url_meta":{"origin":2852,"position":3},"title":"Are there such things as softwood floors?","date":"7\/3\/2008","format":false,"excerpt":"We gave our landlady a written confirmation that we are moving out in September. We did that at 1:30p.m. on the 1st, when we paid our rent. Yesterday, between the hours of 5 and 7, she showed the house to 10 different interested buyers, and we saw at least two\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ennui"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":748,"url":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/?p=748","url_meta":{"origin":2852,"position":4},"title":"Master the form, seek the formless.","date":"5\/14\/2008","format":false,"excerpt":"I had an audition with the artistic director of the Boulevard Theater in Bayview this past weekend. Because I am currently engaged in both my day job and that production of Carousel that I have been selling for the last couple of months, I really did not think I would\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Self-service"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":182,"url":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/?p=182","url_meta":{"origin":2852,"position":5},"title":"See? Even (some) conservatives see the evils.","date":"9\/8\/2004","format":false,"excerpt":"From Andrew Sullivan, a thinking conservative, the only type I can respect anymore (link stolen from tremble and proliferated here): A SUPERB SPEECH: It was the second best speech I have ever heard George W. Bush give - intelligently packaged, deftly structured, strong and yet also revealing of the president's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ennui"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2852"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2852"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2852\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2857,"href":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2852\/revisions\/2857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}