The Way Things Are

The Way Things Are

Thirty-Six Poems

Edwin Lent

Foreword by

Megan Heath, MSW

El Paso, Texas

1998

In loving memory of my parents,

Maurice and Frances Lent.

He taught me art.

She taught me life.

See the world as your self.

Have faith in the way things are.

Love the world as your self,

then you can care for all things.

-- Lao-tzu

Table of Contents

THE INTRODUCTION

Preface

Acknowledgements

Credits

About the Author

Foreward

THE POEMS

Affair: A Five-Poem Suite

Points of View

Surface Tension

Concerto

Wait

Recession

Annular Eclipse

Never Fails

Madonna and Child

Healers

The Clinic

Millie

Take Time

Desertion and Death

The Meaning of Life

We Don’t Think About These Things

Golf Courses and Hair

He’s Not Heavy

Post-Christmas Haiku

Impossibilities

What’s Important?

there’s something about . . .

Finality

To a Friend

Cellular Phones

The Way Things Are

(Sch)ism

Post Mortem: Frances Lent

Pity

On Nationalism

Hospital High-Tech

Food Mines

The Village

Where It’s At

Face It

Cinco de Mayo Haiku

Click-Clack

THE INTRODUCTION

PREFACE

If my first book, “Reflections,” was a plea for sincerity, this second volume is an attempt to extol the virtue (for want of a better term) of reality. Since one’s perception of reality is subjective at best, I feel I am on fairly safe ground. Many of the concepts presented here are based on my readings in Zen philosophy, which say to me that only when the outer layers are stripped away and discarded can one arrive at the true essence or meaning of a thing. Here then, in as minimalistic a form as I could muster, are a series of brief poetic accounts of, in my perception, “The Way Things Are.” Enjoy.

Edwin Lent

El Paso, Texas

November 3, 1996

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

My sincere thanks go out to my dear wife, Kay, for her continued encouragement and support even unto this second volume; to John Kemp for his steadfast support and assistance; to Megan Health for her overgenerous foreward; and to Paul DuMond for his elegantly understated cover, which in my mind is so perfectly in keeping with the sense of this work.

E. L.

CREDITS

The poems which appear on the following pages are reprinted from the publications indicated:

p. 30 Reflections, El Paso, Texas

p. 31 Reflections

p. 33 Reflections

p. 37 The Edge, El Paso

p. 49 The Burro, Texas Western College, El Paso

p.50 The Patter, El Paso

p. 61 The Patter, El Paso

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Of Russian ancestry and a native of Toronto, Canada, Edwin Lent was educated in Toronto and in El Paso, Texas. He has also lived and written in New York and Chicago and has been published in both Canada and the United States. He and his wife, Kay, live and work in El Paso and are the parents of two sons, Meishel and David.

FOREWORD

With words, Ed Lent can fly.

In his quiet observations, he journeys past our ordinary world to where there is complete amusement in watching cats at play, serene beauty in a perfect line of chess pieces, and utter absurdity in the existence of cellular phones, as if our very being depended on them.

In the microcosm of life he finds possibility and surprise:

There is so much so

tremendous much on the rim

of a coffee cup.

and hears the language of earth and sky:

Weathered sundial

yesterday so talkative

now clouds silence you.

While most of us live life by routine and obligation, Ed lives life by heart. He reminds us to laugh at ourselves, to notice the detail of a face, a hand, a look: to call forth the simple passions we hold beneath our pretense, and for a moment. . . to just relax.

THE POEMS

AFFAIR

A FIVE-POEM SUITE

Point of View

(boy thinks about girl)

Surface Tension

(boy meets girl)

Concerto

(boy dates girl)

Wait

(boy falls in love with girl)

Recession

(boy loses girl)

POINTS OF VIEW

How do I feel about her?

I -- oh, you know --

I’m teetering on the edge.

How does she feel about me?

Oh, Man!

She doesn’t even know

there’s a cliff....

SURFACE TENSION

When I talk to you

my heart trembles:

Our relationship

I think

is like a paper thin sheet

of frosted glass

fragile priceless china

or spindly sparrows’ legs.

And I hold back my words

that want to tumble

over themselves

into your understanding

mete them out to you

anxiously

grudgingly

so afraid

that each one will be

a bungling hairy fist

to destroy

our delicacy.

CONCERTO

Rachmaninoff boomed out

With her hand in mine

And it was beautiful

Much more beautiful than the first part

When our hands had stayed apart.

Rachmaninoff’s beauty ended

With our hands still entwined

And it was horrible

So horrible to have to applaud

And by applauding, make our own concerto end.

WAIT

wait hold it stop a while i cant

think -- you are too vivid

in my mind; it was all last night

and now you are monstrous reigning

in me. give me time youve got to give

me time to collapse

you

to your proper size

i know you cant be perfection

itself but it was all last night

and now you reign

god just think to reign

monstrous in me.

RECESSION

Before

(wrapped in an angel shroud)

She who could not love me

as I loved her

was in the forefront at the helm

of my tossing mind --

now

she has receded

into vaguer recesses

as one who waves

from a waning

shore

ANNULAR ECLIPSE

There

during complete annularity

extreme celestial rarity

(never again in our

lifetime)

a city worker knelt intently

on a gravel-covered plant-bearing median

on Mesa

meticulously picking out

the weeds

NEVER FAILS

Anxious to get it over with

she waited

impatient

in the checkout line.

at last

finally

she would be next.

Then

the woman ahead of her

dropped

a bottle of prune juice

shattering it on the floor.

Isn’t that always the way?

1/6/95

Las Cruces,

New Mexico

MADONNA AND CHILD

mother and son

tromp up the cold and

windy hill

sidestepping surveyors’

crazy fluttering

red and yellow flags

(although escape is impossible)

to capture

the snow-capped organs

against the azure sky

in early winter

HEALERS

He's fourteen.

He's sick.

He could die.

You teach him chess.

He ponders its intricacies.

Then, all at once

a glimmer

a spark of comprehension.

He smiles. "I get it now," he says. "Cool."

The game over, you say goodbye

and turn to leave.

He touches your arm

and hugs you.

You part

both healed.

THE CRITIC

You give him your book;

he gives you its price.

"Thanks so much," he says.

"You don't know how long I've waited for this."

Then he puts the book in the ashtray

touches his lighter to it

and the poems ascend.

The critic has spoken.

MILLIE

For six breakneck years of work

She couldn't feel

She couldn't be

Now

at last

those years behind her

She can feel her toes hurt

And sip Jack Daniel's

(on the rocks, of course)

TAKE TIME

take time

along the road

to stop

and smell

the people

DESERTION AND DEATH

The Black King's Knight, fire and smoke streaming from

its flared nostrils, boldly opposed the White Queen while

shielding its King's Bishop's Pawn. He knew the Queen

would not slay him; he was guarded by his own Pawn. Then,

suddenly, he noticed the White King's Knight's Pawn slogging

up on his left, ready to run him through.

Fearing only his own life, the Black Knight fled,

whereupon the lowly Bishop's Pawn shrieked with terror as

the Queen administered her death blow. His lifeless body was

summarily removed from the battlefield.

The White Queen now stood, unassailable, angled next to

the Black King, protected by the White King's crafty Bishop.

There was no escape. The Black King died on the stop.

THE MEANING OF LIFE

i wanted to tell you before

but i didnt think you were ready

now

i think youre ready:

the meaning of life

is terry cloth.

What you do with it

is your affair.

WE DON'T THINK ABOUT THESE THINGS

We don't think about these things:

Amid the bustle of American hospital life

Outside one of the elevators

A woman was talking

On a cellular phone

in Arabic!

Apparently

they do that!

GOLF COURSES AND HAIR

My wife had the window seat.

"Golf courses look neat from the air," she said.

For me

a single golden sunlit strand

waving languidly

from the back of the seat

in front

was enough

HE'S NOT HEAVY

He's not heavy, Father!

He's my third cousin

twice removed

by a previous marriage!

POST-CHRISTMAS HAIKU

last lunch of the year;

decorations coming down:

reality jolt!

IMPOSSIBILITIES

Just as you cannot stuff

green guitars

into crumpled white envelopes

you cannot stop up

(for that would be to stop)

walking talking drafty shoes

that follow a lipstick trail

and think of the 'All'

enclosed in a drawn bowl

WHAT'S IMPORTANT?

I see them in their three-piece suits.

I see them in their two-piece suits.

I see them in their no-piece suits.

Scurrying around like ants

on their seemingly important

missions.

Isn't that amusing?

there's something about an open door that's --

open

how else can i tell you how else

can i explain it

an open door is

an invitation

a beckoning thing

an open door

open

FINALITY

Have you ever sat in class

at one or two or three past the hour

watched the door

Compress resisting inevitably yielding

(like a woman)

air

down to a sliver

of light, a line,

then reduce the line

to an irrefutable

CLICK

TO A FRIEND

There is a monster in Juárez who hates you.

He waits to ravage

disfigure

and conquer you.

But he cannot chase you.

He can only hurt you

only

if you come

to him.

Stay away from him!

Stay with us!

Stay here

where the healing love

enfolds you.

Stay with us

and live

in freedom

safety

and endless

joy

CELLULAR PHONES

What could

possibly

be so

important?

THE WAY THINGS ARE

Photographer

painter

bowler

archer

runner

was how it was.

Now

only the poet remains.

He plays chess badly

teaches it well

and farts in coffeehouses.

(SCH)ISM

I'm a resident

of a piece of real estate

between the 31st and 32nd parallels

and proud of it!

(no flag though)

POST MORTEM: FRANCES LENT

For her

to live was to fight for "propriety"

to perpetuate the St. Clair way

to keep all her ducks in a row

always.

Her life hung on a fragile chain

of greeting cards

of broken shards

of years gone by.

Strict reciprocity (one for you and one for me)

was her rule

always.

Her view of life

narrow and strong

like a one-way bridge

spanned her days.

Now

an anchor cast adrift

the fight gone out of her

her ducks all scattered

the life slipped out of her

as she slept painlessly

at peace at last.

PITY

in the hospital coffee shop

at breakfast

a woman carrying her tray

as she passed my table

cracked her chewing gum.

What a pity!

She could've been pretty.

ON NATIONALISM

July 4, 1996

The world is so

wonderfully

interestingly

diverse:

Which flag

shall i wave?

HOSPITAL HIGH-TECH

We'd just love to save

this patient's life

today

but the computer's down --

Sorry!

FOOD MINES

(The Providence Memorial Hospital Kitchens)

For Ben Jarvis

The newborn poem

festers in the bones

until

finally

it's surrendered

to the iron grip

of the wintry page.

I work deep in the earth

among the dusky miners

who shout above the din

blind moles who seldom see the sun

(even on Saturday)

who push trackless deafening cars

on invisible roaring rails

to their daily bread.

The refining done

The dross cleared away

they pour their precious life-giving elixir

into the eager bodies

of thousands of anxious souls

to give them another day

to live

suffer

and love

THE VILLAGE

She came in to straighten her son's room.

How many times had she told him

not to leave his toys

scattered on the bed?

Just as she was about to scoop up the "mess"

she saw it:

a master planned

meticulously engineered

community

A ladder climbed the pillow hill

stores and churches lined the neatly laid-out streets

homes nestled securely in the downy suburbs

and all was softly at rest.

She smiled a wistfully grateful smile

turned and slowly walked away

leaving the populace

undisturbed

WHERE IT'S AT

The corporate rat race

is not

"where it's at":

The happy anticipation

in the eyes

of a sick old man

when his domino partner approaches

is where it's at.

FACE IT

Face it:

the jokes of your boss

and of

the people above you

in the real

or imagined

pecking order

and of

the person

you're currently

trying to screw

(one way or another)

are not always funny.

And your job

is definitely

not important.

CINCO DE MAYO HAIKU

grackle walks across

nmsu lily pond:

jet-black feather step

CLICK-CLACK

The click-clack of your heels

as you stride along

the tiled corridor

does not make you seem

(except maybe to you)

the least bit important

to anyone

at all.