THOSE I’D HELP
by Eric Chaet

Those I’d help
will take no help from me
& give me none—
they don’t believe
that they need help
they’re proud & deluded
they need help
& give me none—
& I need help.

DOMAIN & RANGE

My domain is a lonely, daunted point
but my range is a line whose other end is undefined.

My domain is a line I plod on back & forth
but my range is a surface
tilting left, right, up, down, diagonally, curving
now chaotic waves & storms, now rhythmic & harmonious.

My domain is the surface my neighbors & rivals,
predators, parasites, & those who care for me
briefly or for years or more
see, & believe that’s me—
but beneath the surface I’m surging:
molten, rare, dense, magnetic, more or less—
even I don’t know how deep I go.

People treat one another as tho they’re their domains—
but I see thru their shells—&, til I die, I’m ranging.

I AM SINCERE
by Eric Chaet

I am often at a loss all day, how to proceed —
til the moment I decide I need to get some sleep
to be able to cope, cunning, competitive, tomorrow —
when the bed seems a trap laid for me by Death —
didn’t I just climb out of that bed, ten thousand times?

To the extent I can, I am transforming
first myself & my situation —
then, others’, too — more & more.

To the extent I can’t, I am an interloper.

I acknowledge how awesome this world is —
& how awesome this life mysteriously given to me —
however problematic —
but I am sincere, & I repudiate the paradigms.

APOLOGY
by Eric Chaet

I’ve offended you?
You were already strong, capable, brave?
You didn’t need me to tell you?

I’m sorry, I was talking mainly to myself —
& to anyone like I was
scrambling to survive while becoming who I’d be.

& you don’t need me now, either? —
to focus on putting who you’ve become
to its best, its wisest, its most effective use?

I’m sorry, I was talking mainly to myself —
& to anyone now alive, or ever, like I am.

ANXIOUS TO SERVE
by Eric Chaet

When I’m not just scrambling to survive
I am eager to provide whatever service
I’m capable of or becoming capable of
to those attempting to live righteously
who are in need of what I am able to provide
& who will do what they can to reciprocate.