Let unrelated memories swarm in your head,
your own private music.
Try dancing to it.
Feel sad when the man who’d planned
to meet his wife in Seattle
gets rerouted through Minneapolis.
It takes him too long
to absorb this information.
Pray you never get that way.
Repeat the names you learn
on each business trip.
Take them out in the evening, like playing cards.
Think about what they want
and how you can help.
Think about what you want
and how they can help.
Think about walking on and on,
through someone else’s journal.
Then open your notebook
and let them inside.
Dale Laszig
6-14-2001