Columbus Day celebrates discovery
So be it.
Let us not enter here as
though Anthopologists
but as searchers
let minds be open
to the difference.
_______________________
After we were introduced in the anteroom
as the Pennsylvania relatives
we settled in.
____________________
Quakers wait for the silence to descend
music of the now
speaking of what is
and was
and what they believe will always be
Not Bach
Not Rutter
but music of here and now
but here the music descended
to hear right now
clear right now
________________________
Sung from the heart
to try and reach the soul.
Trying to sail
past where the charts once led,
past maps end.
Then there was the Preacher
speaking of many things
yet speaking of only one
telling many stories
yet thinking only one
finding many ways
to speak-
saying only the one story.
__________________________
Peering through the telescope
for the unkown land.
Then-suddenly-
the silence-
Closed my eyes.
As if in a Quaker house.
______________________________
When I saw again
knew that many were
speaking to Jahweh
in their own ways.
These are not my ways
but I am not to say
there are right or wrong ways
for this conversation.
_____________________________
The earth is big and round,
there is much to discover
there is much to learn,
I do not know
where earth ends
and the new world begins
or what the New World
might be called.
____________________________________
some conversations had ended earlier
some continued after we left
How can one know the world
when one only knows one’s
piece of the world?
How can one speak of knowing
The Way
when one only knows of one way.
How can we learn
if we only listen
to our own silence.
How can we learn
if we know
the Earth is flat
and we will fall
if we sail too far?
1st revision
Bob Small
10-23-05
revised 1/26/21
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About bobsmall1
Bob Small has read at Bacchanal, Barnes and Noble, Borders,
The Booksource (Swarthmore), The Clark Park Festivals,Community College of Philadelphia
Highwire Gallery, The Mad Poets Annual Food Fest Reading,
The Middle East Restaurant, Nexus GalleryThe Painted Bride Arts Center,
The Philadelphia Ethical Society, Robin's Bookstore
The University of Pennsylvania and also in New York City,
Trenton, NJ, Washington, DC, and in many Delaware Valley Venues.
He is the author of numerous chapbooks, including
El Otro Lado (with Maralyn Lois Polak), On watching America Die,
Small Steps and Toes (with Lamont B. Steptoe), and The Unapoet.
This is his first Reading in over a year.
Bob Small was Founder and President of the
two decades old Poets and Prophets,
which presented Poetry Readings
in both Delaware County and Philadelphia.
Bob was the Chair of The Delaware County Green Party and was the
First Green Party Candidate in Delaware County (2005).
He was also a Green Party National Delegate, among other duties.
He is the Founder and Facilitator of
The Pennsylvania Ballot Access Coalition (PaBac),
which is a Coalition of both Independents and Third Parties.,
seeking to legislatively improve Pennsylvania's Ballot Access Laws. (Facebook)
Bob is also a founding member and
Facilitator of Democracy Unplugged, and Delco Debates,
which has presented Independent and Third Party Forums in Delaware County since 2004. Facebook)
He was formerly involved with Cinema Resistance, and Delco Pledge of Resistance.
Bob currently lives in Swarthmore with his wife
and their menagerie of animals.
He is currently focused on writing a Novel and organizing his Poetry, which he posts on his Blog (Bob Small1). He is retired from most of the above activities, except Delco Debates and Poets and Prophets, which he may return to.
robertthesmall 