On Striving After Wind (2022)

So as Yogi Berra said, when you come to the fork in the road—you take it
And the bumper sticker wisdom says wherever you go—there you are
And no breadcrumbs that you drop can ever lead you homeward
’Cause, Peregrine, there’s no homeward to turn toward anymore

Life is not a problem waiting to be solved
Life is what it is
And there is nothing left for us
But to resolve

To resolve

Stone by stone by cobblestone you lay to pave your well-intentioned road
Until you rise and realize you have absolutely no idea where it goes
It leads you to this cliff-edge that you contemplate before you lose the light
That’s what happens when you walk into the wilderness with no compass but your appetite

Life is no transaction; there’s no quid pro quo involved
Life just gives what it gives
And there is nothing left for us
But to resolve

Make peace
Release this thing you cannot change
Let go
Stand back and watch the pieces rearrange

The Kenosis is the emptying of everything, releasing all command
As beauty dries her wings upon your open palm, you struggle not to close your hand
And as she takes her flight you realize that she will not return again
And all your longing cannot buy that cup of coffee cooling on the table there, my friend
Life is not a problem waiting to be solved
Life is what it is what it is what it is what it is

Resolve

Composed: Begun at Point Place, Ohio, Yule 2013; finished at Fairland, Maryland, Ash Wednesday, 2022

First public performance: Awaiting its debut.

Notes: As with Sanctuary, this one took awhile to blossom, particularly its title. At the 2013 Randall F. Tobias Leadership Conference, where David Frantz and I were in artistic residency, the idea emerged that life crises are seldom solved; rather, they are resolved, whether we like the resolutions or not.

Between first writing and final form, the second verse had to be stripped down and rebuilt several times. Reading Ecclesiastes 1:14 on Ash Wednesday cemented the title into place.

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