Two Letters Difference Poem by Annie Cordelia Adams

im beginning to understand


...everything

so, don't push it. i'm tired
i won't push it. you're tired
or maybe you're not.
you're just still unsure of yourself
unsure of who you are
what you are. and maybe
i'm too stupid to see
that i belong to you.

but it drives the living hell out of me
when you act like you're too immature
to handle any of the things i want
to share with you. death. life. love.
hate. passion. fear. anger.
and you see them all through a glass
a looking glass with dimmer view
a window with the curtains pulled.

i see that house is built with hands
to satisfy the soul of man. the width
of human fire. the subtlety of human passion.
the desire to fulfill the dreams of man.
that house is built with human hands.

you see that house is built with hands
to quench the thought of building a house.
for the practical purpose of living there.
to extend from the parent an unfulfilled promise.
that house is built with human hands.

that there is something
greater than this world?
that the very blood of Jesus
is the reason for my being?

you can't see what i see
so i cannot see how we can be
forever in this state of being
where i see the stars as eyes of God
and you see as hydrogen gas.
i see the sun as an angel of light
and you see as the absence of night
i see grass as a rug to soften the ground
you see as food for a cow

nothing...
nothing is wrong with the way
you see what you see. it's just
that i now can't see how you can't
see what i see now. for, i see
through my heart. and you see
through your head. and how close
we were to being one for eternity,
for there are but two letters difference