Lightness
by Steve Baliko
“freedom is widely (mis)understood
as freedom from restraint...”
--Philip Kenneson

Do not hinder the dancing bumble bees
Do not mourn the dropping of white petals
Do not think the splendor has come and gone
Do not scorn the bloating pale, green tumor
Do not measure the progress every day
Do not pick it until it learns to blush
Do not let it fall under its own weight
Do not let it rot.
Do not wipe the juice away as it runs
down your chin and wrist and arm
Do not relent until all that remains
is the stem to pick your teeth
Do not fail to linger on the sweetness,
the flavor, the aroma of life
Do not spare any branch from the pruning.