USELESS

[ Imagining: I am the useless man! ]

I can’t help but notice
any thing that’s useless:
-Like the wagtail on a fence,
or a seashell in the sand.

I notice hares jump the long grass.
First useless blossoms on a tree.
My head fills with useless places, useless beings;
I know where a myna takes straw to nest.

My skills are useless for a living,
I see flowers before their arrival
I am Inspector of clouds, of birds,
Namer of useless things in words.

I can’t help it! I am bent
For my soul believes it heaven sent.
And I despair unless I can be there
Where the useless things are.

I hear larks above the wasteland!
I go where they sing - as if stray angels…
I forget my own ground, I am their fan.
Bound with skylarks in their spells.

I am the useless man
Waiting and watching the land
For an odd flight of eagle or dove
As if awaiting a love.

I am a man, but useless
No good at any business
I trance each day - to be truthful
Imagining ...it’s useful.

Imagining ...it’s useful.

26 August 1999 © Wayne David Knoll,
Coburg, Victoria