Have you seen anything real lately?

Go ahead, give it a try

Muster up some courage

dare to take a peek outside your skull

and see what’s really there

Try to get a handle on something…anything.

Like mist, it passes through your fingers

leaving only a cold and damp suggestion

that anything really was

Or was it?

A world made of concrete and steel

and yet

nothing is really solid enough to put your hands on

But maybe it’s best that way.

After all, if you did grab something

would you be brave enough to look It in the eye?

Instead, give up

Admit that it is not to be grabbed

seen

felt

or studied with the hands

eyes

heart

or mind

anymore than the line between this

and that

or you

and I

is to be drawn with a straight edge

and a number 2 pencil.

*****

My brother, Bill Gerth, wrote this poem when he was in college at Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, Indiana. I found it today on a piece of paper in a pile of miscellaneous stuff I was going through. Thank goodness I rescued it! It was formatted differently (indentations, etc.), but I couldn’t make WordPress do it correctly.

Many of you who follow this blog know what an incredible person Bill is. You can read other posts and see videos about him here and here.

Photo credit for featured image on home page: Carolyn Tiry, via flickr, CC