1159. Yes - Muriel Rukeyser

It's like a tap-dance

Or a new pink dress,

A shit-naive feeling

Saying yes.

Some say Good morning

Some say God bless

Some say Possibly

Some say yes.

Some say Never

Some say Unless

It's stupid and lovely

To rush into Yes.

What can it mean?

It's just like life,

One thing to you

One thing to your wife.

Some go local

Some go express

Some can't wait

To answer yes.

Some complain

Of strain and stress

The answer may be

No for Yes.

Some like failure

Some like success

Some like Yes Yes

Yes Yes Yes.

Open your eyes

Dream but don't guess.

Your biggest surprise

Come after Yes.

1158. With Kit, Age 7, At The Beach - William Stafford

We would climb the highest dune,

from there to gaze and come down:

the ocean was performing;

we contributed our climb.

Waves leapfrogged and came

straight out of the storm.

What should our gaze mean?

Kit waited for me to decide.

Standing on such a hill,

what would you tell your child?

That was an absolute vista.

Those waves raced far, and cold.

“How far could you swim Daddy

in such a storm?”

“As far as was needed,” I said,

and as I talked I swam. 

1157. A Hardware Store As Proof of the Existence of God - Nancy Willard

I praise the brightness of hammers pointing east

like the steel woodpeckers of the future, 

and dozens of hinges opening brass wings,

and six new rakes shyly fanning their toes,

and bins of hooks glittering into bees,

and a rack of wrenches like the long bones of horses,

and mailboxes sowing rows of silver chapels,

and a company of plungers waiting for God

to claim their thin legs in their big shoes

and put them on and walk away laughing.

In a world not perfect but not bad either

let there be glue, glaze, gum, and grabs,

caulk also, and hooks, shackles, cables, and slips, 

and signs so spare a child many read them,

Men, Women, In, Out, No Parking, Beware The Dog.

In the right hands, they can work wonders