I Am There... I Am Here! Poem by Eric Cockrell

the further i get from myself,
the closer i get to my self...
in variant forms expounding,
in a thousand blades of grass.
in the block long laid in the factory building,
vacant but for ghosts of unnamed families fed.
in the boat too long stuck in sand,
in the dirge darkness of the mine.
in the rabbit turd, the chattering squirrel,
in cattle feeding awaiting death.
in the sterile stink of the hospital,
in the bedpan, and the monitor silent.
in the crud of the old man's beard,
the sagging breasts of the old woman rocking...
in the cry of passion from the back seat of a car,
in the old man bumming a smoke.
in angry minds gathered at the table,
whispering of revolution.
in the picket line, and the heads caved in,
in the death row cell.
in the empty church, on the courthouse steps,
in gunshots heard in the night.
in the crack pipe, and the college textbook,
in black skin, white skin, and all others.
in the thoughts men are afraid to think...
in feelings too long repressed.
in the sacredness of mundane and simple...
in the beauty of the moment...
yes, yes! i am there, i am here!