SORRY

Even though there were strawberries
and the after supper sound of a piano
from the house next door,
you should know by now that once
what was said was said,
I don’t hear or taste anything else.
I only see the pockmarks
on the strawberries.
I only hear the missed note, the hurt.
It’s me – not you – I’m sorry.
I know you’ve tasted this recital before.

© Andy Costello, Reflections, 2008

BEHIND CLOSED DOORS

I wasn’t there,
so off the record,
could you tell me
what really happened in there ...
why you made the decision you made ...
why you ended up doing what you did?

Isn’t that the question,
the most important question,
we’re all asking presidents, popes, bishops, pastors,
leaders, parents, heads of corporations,
and all those other people who make decisions without us...
decisions that affect our lives, behind closed doors.

© Andy Costello, Reflections, 2008

BOTTOM   DRAWER

Imagine if we could open a door
and walk down a dozen dark steps,
down to the very bottom of ourselves.
And if we walked around down there,
would we find another door,
a door with rust and dust and cobwebs?
And if we had a key or a way to open
or break down that door,
would we find ourselves inside
a small cellar room, and in that room,
would there be a desk
with a stuck bottom drawer?
And if could open that drawer,
would there be a small book there?
And if we opened that book
what would be written there?
Names? Places? Moments?
The “Whys” underneath
all we did and all we do?

© Andy Costello, Reflections, 2008

PREFER

Some look at their watches,
some see the vacation is almost over,
some see the cancer and the wrinkles,
some see the waitress coming with the bill,
some see the end is almost here.

Me? I prefer the dawn,
the budding rose, the morning alarm clock,
the scratch of the match,
the moment just after giving the waitress
my selection from the menu.

© Andy Costello, Reflections, 2008

LISTENING

Listening is more Q than A.
Listening sometimes
is asking the other a simple question
about something in a comment
they made – not to get them,
but to get at an understanding
what they’re trying to get at.

Listening is hearing
what is said and not said.
Listening is tones:
anger – fear – joy – hope –
frustration – celebration,
or doubt – or the asking for help
sandwiched in the one’s sounds.

Listening is more than ears.
Listening is also eyes
seeing whether the other
can look into our eyes
and whether we can look
into their eyes – and whether
our I’s can become a we.

© Andy Costello, Reflections, 2008

GENEROSITY

Generosity is:
the outpouring of an open heart and hand.
Generosity is:
the willingness to give.
Generosity is:
the open door – not hiding behind walls and curtains.
Generosity is:
the stopping on the road to Jericho.
Generosity is:
finding out who has the loaves and who has the fishes.
Generosity is:
the dollar in the basket for the street musician,
or better, the beggar on the street,
not worrying whether he or she is faking it.
Generosity is:
being the Image and Likeness of God
in the beginning of
the Book of Genesis – the spilling over with
ongoing creation page after page
in all the chapters of the story that follows.

© Andy Costello, Reflections, 2008

IT’S NOT GOOD

TO BE ALONE

Sometimes, when I don’t get my way,
sometimes all through supper
I try to advertise my anger
and my frustration
on the TV screen on my face.
I try to force everyone to wonder
if they did something wrong.
Sometimes someone squirms
and asks, “Is anything wrong?”
That’s my opening.
“Well, now that you ask, yes.
Yes, I’m mad and you know why.
So let’s leave it at that!”
That always gets them.
Why should I have to suffer alone?

© Andy Costello,
Reflections 2008