Greg Jensen
—
BODHISATTVA
for Marvin Bell
When Marvin Bell walks by
I hear Steely Dan:
Bodhisattva,
Would you take me by the hand?
He is spring in the bow
before arrows seek
their blood-red eyes.
He dances dreaming
of other feet.
The last of him is the last
you feel getting soft
in your cells
until you jump
at what made you.
Call your words back
from their loose fire
and put them into the lines
where they lived before
you saw paper
scarred with slashes,
heard beats going down
inside a drum.
There is always more music
than a note played off-key
when fingers move too fast
to keep up.
Nothing loses ground.
The dirt in your shoes walks
because there is no other way.
Greg Jensen has worked with unhoused adults living with mental illnesses and addiction problems in Seattle, WA for over 25 years. His work has appeared in 'december,' 'Bodega,' 'Crab Creek Review,' 'Fugue,' 'Rabid Oak,' and 'Porridge Magazine.' Greg holds an MFA in Poetry from Pacific University.
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