Walgreens

           

Joan asked if she could

help me –        

a friendly enough clerk

at Walgreen’s,

with a ‘ JOAN ’ name tag -

and I’m trying on sunglasses.

Try these with the pink lenses,

she hands me a pair

I would not have chosen

and as I lift them to my nose

to model them in the mirror

she explains that,

You’ll be able to see God

and the pink glow will warm

your understanding.

Morning epiphany.

The afternoon spent

in a pink haze of holiness,

contemplating all those stories

of Zen masters and their

eccentric methods,

time journeys by association,

scribbling poems about everything,

formulating new life priorities,

and wondering about a shrine

and candles for St. Joan.