Freedom

I think our fathers gave us something
something deep inside
something that makes us brother
to the wild geese
my friend the eagle
a wolf free in the wild
one lone soft hoot of
a night owl
it
used to be the buffalo

I see it deep in your eyes
under the clothes
whispering--screaming
to be free

it is a graceful deer
  fleeing the hunter's bullet
it is the hunter unable to fire
  our gasp at a falling star
it is children catching snowflakes
  on their tongues
  two 19 year olds skipping
  breathlessly and swinging
  at a playground
it is a large room in a lodge
  by a lake
  filled with laughter

it is being naked in a field of flowers
  a lover's knowing smile
it is a grinning Dan Berrigan
  led to prison
it is that which no walls
  contain
  that no poet ever captured
it is a speeding downhill skier
  a racing car
it is a running athlete
  the arms of a youngboy
a child spilling from the womb

it is a farmer at work in the hot sun
it is the thought of Chardin
  the thrill of knowledge
it is many colored clothes
  a clenched fist raised proud to
  the sky
  the sound of a guitar and singing
it is a happy face poster
  at the top of these long stairs

it is the word of God
  I know this thing
once it was a cross