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Seeking


When the Squirrel doesn’t talk

I went into the desert
 looking for answers
 looking for some deep and profound spiritual experience
 looking for the burning bush
 looking for a squirrel to talk to me
   and show me the way.

And nothing,
 no voices,
   no whispers,
     no higher vibrations,
       no talking squirrels.
Nothing

What happens when the squirrel doesn’t talk?

Has the spirit world decided to pass?
Did they run out of squirrels that day?
Does God not care?

I’ve been bugged for years about this spiritual stuff.
Believed in it deep down.
Talked about it.
Searched for it.
Prayed to it.

And you’d think I could get some sparkle glitter fairy dust experience
 for all that investment.
Some overwhelming sense of a long past ancestor.
 A knowing glance from a deer in the forest.
   The piercing gaze of a hawk balanced on a telephone wire.
Nothing

What happens when the squirrel doesn’t talk?

Is the silence a reflection on me
 or a reflection of me?

I’ll be honest.
I’m jealous of all those apparition stories
 Mary,
   Whales,
     Grandma or Grandpa,
       Wolves,
         Stones,
  and yes, even squirrels.
All saying, “I am here, you are not alone”

So I want that squirrel to talk to me
To convince me of the other world I need to believe in

What happens when the squirrel doesn’t talk?

In silence,
 I surrender.
and stop looking
and start listening
and hear this world I need to believe in
and the other world
 offers their gift.

 - Jose Enciso

Picture
​Artwork by Rich Arata
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  • Home
  • Poetry
    • Persistence
    • Fire, Protest, Anger
    • Here and Now
    • Seeking
    • Awkwardness
    • Fatherloss
    • Healing
    • Harsh Truths
    • It doesn't have to make sense
    • The Troll
  • Blog
  • Listen, the book
  • STTF
  • Art
  • About & Contact
  • Appearances
  • The Funnies