Mary Murphy's News
It was late last Spring
when Mary Murphy came
to say that Reverend Conlon had a stroke.
All the details bubbled out
in a fountain of misfortune
he drove to Washington…
picking up his…
sudden seizure…
intensive care…
very grave…
It seemed so odd,
that placid simple man
should change his shape
at only 48.
"He had so much more to do," she said,
or so it seemed.
I was perplexed,
not sad.
With every flowing detail of the story
his life
and mine
began dissolving in the spreading sun.
The more that Mary Murphy spoke
the more my thinking calmed
the world began to blur
and when it focused once again
I could see
beyond her temple
lilacs were in bloom
so fresh and pure
and fragrant.
And just then
floating on the nearest flower
knee-deep in nectar
Chuang-tzu
slowly turned his head to me
and smiled.
