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Whistling for Practice

(sabbath-making)

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Take a breath

And enter into Sunday

Or Saturday or

Thursday or whatever

Day is counted by tradition

Or simply needed now

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Call it sabbath

Or a free hour

Or ten minutes

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For lighting a candle safely

Or in the mind;

Turning a bulb so there’s

Small light also counts

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Do you need a totem?

A symbol you can hold

Or a memento?

Certainly, that’s fine

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Maybe you’d like to write:

A prayer journal

Or simply some words

On paper or the screen;

You could sketch something,

Too, a desire

Of your heart

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Or allow yourself to

Look off into space,

Into the room, that is,

Without worrying

About concerns

For craziness, your

Concerns or someone

Else’s

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There is outer space

And inner space—find

Them both, if you will

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What is on that asteroid?

Who is on that ring of Saturn?

Someone might be waving,

Seeking a friend on Earth

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Arrange a special sound,

If you can—if not, don’t

Worry; for

The world is a noisy place

And you’re not

Responsible for that

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Raise your burdens

And look under:

There is a dream,

Maybe an epiphany

Waiting to be let out

And change your life

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Or maybe it’s the stillness

That the curriculum is after

Should you make a habit

Of this, if you want to sanctify

Some time this way again,

As for one I hope you do

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Don’t’ elongate this time

Against necessity, though

I hope it becomes

Necessity again,

Maybe tomorrow

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If this sabbath-making

Makes today a good reminder of

Who you are

What are your better affiliations

What is the name of God

Or simply a presence

To call on

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Or maybe nothing—you

Don’t have to have a

God in order to be still,

Enter into recesses

To fill them with

What you say is good

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This is in no way

A condemnation call

Or rationale-building for

Judgment, far from it

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The universe might judge

An indifferent planet;

That is not now,

That is not here

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In fact,

There is good humor

As in ice cream;

Let laughter out

To complement the serious

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If you’ve been reading,

Maybe enough time has passed

And, if you’ve not,

That’s fair

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Need I say again

The time is yours;

Now find what there is

To cherish in the day

That’s left

Or maybe has begun

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And if there’s someone,

One or many

Or a company of one,

Make a presence of yourself

To offer anyone

Or no one,

Readier to meet

To work or play,

Whatever a new day

(from here on it is

if only for a moment)

May now be newly

Negotiated

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Breathe better

Savor what you can

Remember there is love

From one or two

And onward to infinity

Or, if you will, eternity

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Be loved

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C L Couch

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Photo by Hans Veth on Unsplash

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