Make Up Your Mind from the Beginning
by
Radiance Angelina Petro

Make up your mind from the beginning.
Emptiness leaps from heart to heart.
The day is fumbling with its papers.
Death’s long seeking shadow full
of tigers and iron rises over the frozen lake.

Take the first step and the starting point disappears.
Practice wonderful things.
The avocado on the counter has ripened.
The golden carp is out of the net.
The day is raining flowers.

Stop doddering around the house, and go
topsy turvy out the door—it’s OK.
There are cicada screams trapped in rocks
that need to be set free. With one clap
of thunder the storm is gone.