meditation By Scott Ferry

here is a bag of giant asian wasps

i have to put it over my head

how do i feel about it?

 

i can pretend they are not wasps

but winged angels and that each searing sting

is an exquisite epiphany

 

i can be excited about pain

because it feels stronger than

anything else

 

and i can learn to breathe through it

to go into a bliss compartment

i have dug in my reptilian brain

 

here i have already died

and am drifting in absinthe

and chloroform

 

buddha sits next to me

chewing on a live electrical wire

and laughing between shocks

 

the sky is clear today

i can see through the imaginary bag

and the imaginary coral-jawed hornets

 

my body created as an agony container

wherein i can decide to respond to

noxious stimuli

 

i have decided to be free

but like the buddha my body still jolts

and i curse while weeping in joy

 

here is a muzzle of ordinary discontent

here is a boat and a flamethrower

here is a clear view of nothing

 

i kiss each sin with swollen lips

i sing the murder to sleep

with a prayer

 

Scott Ferry helps our Veterans heal as a RN in the Seattle area. His most recent book is a collaboration with Daniel McGinn titled Fill Me With Birds on Meat for Tea Press. His tenth book of poetry, Sapphires on the Graves, is upcoming from Glass Lyre Press in early Summer 2024. More can be found at ferrypoetry.com.