Tough Questions
Teacher:
what would you do
if Love asked you to
what would you do
if Love asked you to
what would you do
what would you do
what would you do
when it’s late icy and cold
and up ahead is a smoking wreck
if Love asked you to
what would you do…
what would you do
what would you do
what would you do
if Love asked you to
what would you do
at the next stop sign
a wheel-chair woman
stuck in the snow
if Love asked you to
what would you do
a crying dog asking for help
left outside on a freezing night
if Love asked you to
what would you do
a weeping man on a northbound train
the kinda weeping we all understand
if Love asked you to
what would you do
a jumbo snapping turtle
flipped on its shell
if Love asked you to
what would you do
a messy man
without a plan
afraid to raise his hand
shivering in the freezing rain
if Love asked you to
what would you do
on the highway headed home in a hurricane
a flipped over suv up ahead
partially underwater in a ditch
quickly filling with rain run-off
if Love asked you to
what would you do
a hospital stroll
among the dying and old
a lonely lady
that nobody knows
if Love asked you to
what would you do
Love won’t force you to
She’ll only ask you to
and when She do
the next move is up to you
Student:
I could doubt for hours and hours
go on and on about
principalities and powers
babel my way
up the leaning tower
I could gather
I could get
I could pretend to forget
what you know I regret
is that what you expect
Teacher:
Love, dear one
She asks more of you
and more of me too
Love won’t force you to do
what She asks of you
She shows up
and helps us grow up
Student:
these empty-hands
are reaching high
toward heaven’s sky
and these bare-feet
are planted deep
in the earth below
Teacher:
very well, my dear…
a double-parked shit-talkin’ rude bmw dude
unknowingly drops his wallet
right in front of you
if Love asked you to
what would you do
a coyote cries for help
her pups are tangled up
in the chicken-wire
you put up - to keep them out
if Love asked you to
what would you do
an unexpected surprise
growing inside
if Love asked you to
what would you do
Student:
I’ve often found it hard to do
what Love asks me to do
does She not realize
that these are brand-new
jimmy choo’s
Teacher:
[laughing]
Love won’t force you to
She only asks you to
knowing that She’s asking a lot of you…