Something lighter by Toi

From a Letter: About Snow

        for Chana Bloch

I am at a retreat house,
and the nun who runs the house told me to look at my face in the mirror.
I did, but the only thing I keep seeing is the face of Snow, the huge Pyrenees
            sheep dog.
He's so frightened, they can't let him off his leash!
His human eyes, long-suffering, like a saint who's forgotten how to smile.
I hear the breed is naturally shy, and this one was abused by his previous owner.
No wonder he backs away!
But to see a creature so large--120 pounds--so timid.

Once, they say, scared by a deer, he broke his leash and ran.
A mile away a woman stopped with her pickup and he jumped right in!
Who knows why the frightened make decisions!
Today I jogged with him, his thick rangy self leading the way.
Now we're sitting in the shade by the community house while I write this letter.

by Toi Derricotte

I saw Toi Derricotte read her poetry last night. You can see my discussion on that in the comments on the post below. I wanted to share this poem to show that everything she writes is not  heavy and hard hitting. I was very impressed by her.  She is a professor at Pitt and lives in Pittsburgh. If you ever get a chance to see her, I'd encourage you go.

The line that moves me in this poem is " Who knows why the frightened make decisions."

It reminds me of those unlucky souls in our society who are scared shitless, but because of  the dire straits they find themselves in, must make decisions that we, in better circumstances, may question. I feel for them.