THAT BEAUTIFUL SENTENCE

the way you no longer
knock yourself out about
every single capitalist injustice,
but instead turn

to your other lives,
being a lover, being a gardener,
the struggle is long,
sometimes the fulcrum lies elsewhere,

but when the moment to change things
comes in all its dazzling clarity
you still seem to know
what time it is, despite a history

of uphill battles, throw
everything you have
into it, like a cowgirl
furiously wrestling a steer
to the ground,

like that saying you copied
what seems like a million years ago
from a wall in the depths
of the drug treatment program

because tt struck you
as true
because it struck you
as accurate

because it struck you
as beautiful
because it was in accord
with your heart

oh, lord,

give me the serenity
to accept the things
I cannot change,
the courage to change

the things I can ,
and the wisdom,
the wisdom to know
the difference

and then,
afterwards,
when you were finished,

you got up from your chair
and walked over
to the park

you still
remember
that beautiful sentence.