Churlish

    

This morning the sun showed up

all bright and generous.

I declined it

on principle,

then squinted at it

like it owed me money.

I’ve decided to be churlish on purpose.

Scowl at cheerful flowers.

Shake my head

at sparrows making a racket in the hedges.

Let other people

be fountains of yes.

Me...

I’ll be the man

leaning on the fence

finding fault with the weather.

Someone offers kindness -

I check it like a used truck.

Someone hands me cake -

I ask for a smaller slice

of happiness.

It takes practice

staying unimpressed.

Takes patience.

Takes a certain stubbornness.

Anyone can be pleased.

But it takes a man with a little mileage

to stand in good sunshine

and keep his arms folded.

You live long enough

and you learn

the world is generous

in ways that don’t last.

So I do my part -

a small stubborn storm

moving through perfectly good weather.

And tomorrow morning

when the sun shows up again,

I’ll decline it

on principle.

GBS jr

date Unknown