History
before a beginning
is the end of a previous beginning
history’s a tangled skein
not a straight-laid thread
it’s full of knots of strands of varied weights
and counter-weights of light and lead
when teased apart we learn
who today has lost and who is winning
who is floating
who is falling
who is free, or who is hauling
someone else’s freight
who can move, or who is in the vice
of someone else’s sinning
.
Jim Culleny
8/3/14