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October, White - October 31, 2011
October, 2011 - October 04, 2011


May 14, 2007

10:00 p.m.

Notes from the Middle of the Night

There's a reason they call them "the wee hours;" if you wake up then, it's probably because you have to pee. That was my half-sleeping state at 4:15 this morning, when the following poem came to me. I'd just been dreaming about someone helping me out with some little thing, and instead of just saying, "Thank you," I had said, "Undying thanks!" which, in the fog of the moment, brought on this chain of ideas.

Perpetuity

When someone gives you their undying thanks,
does that mean they're long-lived
or are they actually in the process
of becoming undead?

Because that would be a whole other story,
someone's gratitude walking around
like a zombie,
coming after you at all hours
mooing, "thank yoooo.... thank yoooooooo..."
"no, really, thaaaaaanks..."
and you running away shouting,
"Just take the gift! TAKE IT!!
I don't want any thanks!"
fleeing in the night in a panic
(probably tripping over a tree root)
and no matter how fast you run
or how slowly the thanks lurch on
you never seem to shake them.

Worse, a few of the grateful undead
could infect a whole society
and how would you like to be endlessly scraping
your soles through the suburbs
mewling your appreciation for some unforgettable favor
hitching along with all your neighbors
in a perpetual bowing contest
straight out of The Mikado?

Better, I think, to give thanks in the moment,
watching their brief, sweet dispersion
as they rise to heaven and disappear

leaving us free, once again, to choose
whether the next moment will inspire our gratitude
or just another chance to confront
the immortal temptation to complain.


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