BIG

I jogged around the Capitol
this morning. Yesterday’s rain
lingered on the ground.
Capitol police glanced at me.
There were reflections
everywhere,

and I remembered a spring
day in 1984. I met Dan Quayle
and stood on the Capitol steps
and I knew the world was
bigger than I knew
and

even now I still wonder
if vast is the right word
or perhaps grand or
simply BIG.

Every child knows that Big
is bigger than big
and that BIG
is the biggest of
all

and that BIG is also
inconceivable.

I have been rolling with the oldies recently, sharing poems that I have already posted.

Today, I simply wrote the poem as I write this commentary, mostly letting the words remain on the screen, pausing more often, deleting more.

But then just offering my thoughts. As I’m doing now.

I took this picture of the Capitol this morning and felt I captured something unique. An image that had to be captured right then. That has immediacy and is the thing that this poem is built around. Something BIG.

Dan Quayle, by the way, went on to become vice president. That visit to Washington D.C was while Ronald Regan was president.

Forty-two years ago.

And still today the world felt big, getting up early for a short run, while the mall was still quiet, while there were no lines for the museums, before important people started making important decisions about important things.

And one last shot to share: