who I seek to be

multitudes are within

a goal I seem to have in life
is to notice and express the multitudes within me,
the child who builds a rock dam in the creek,
the adult who organizes effort after effort toward the light,
the sacred joins the profane, the sublime with the ridiculous,
the clear mind of a scientist and the soft soul of a poet,
logic and empathy,
the newness of creation of the artist
plus giving space for the goodbyes of dissolution,
I remember as historian and fathom the future with a novel,
I am the extrovert who delights in expression, connection, the plural,
I am an introvert who delights in withdrawal and the single,












I believe a foolish consistency of self
can deny the multitudes within us
whose diversity enriches the whole,
if we follow the multitudes express themselves,
we can let ourselves reach more truly
toward the greatness that is possible
each time a child is born and goes forth.








by Henry Walker
May 27, ’10