Hero?
Dan Brook
An infusion of love
accompanied by the sting of hate
soothing, burning, pacifying, piercing
sweet and sour, singing and smiling
pain and pleasure inextricably linked
mixing inside of me
mixing my insides out
a cacophonous cocktail
of comfort, confusion, and cruelty
sweating, panting, silently ranting
feeling the anxiety, expecting magic
floating and flying above myself
parts of me are laughing
parts dying
the rock that I can rely on
is the rock that cracks my skull
heroine is my hero —
yet also my nemesis
what seems to save me
insidiously invades me
I need an infusion of love
Dan Brook is Senior Lecturer Emeritus in the Department of Sociology and Interdisciplinary Social Sciences at San Jose State University, from where he organizes the Hands on Thailand program. His most recent books are Harboring Happiness: 101 Ways To Be Happy, Sweet Nothings, about the nature of haiku and the concept of nothing, and Eating the Earth: The Truth About What We Eat.