A Plain Ordinary Steel Needle Can Float on Pure Water

(The Broken Obelisk by Barnett Newman,
1915-1970, American artist; one of several
such sculptures, this is located in Houston,
Texas, as a memorial to Martin Luther King, Jr.)

A mark of true friendship is that it changes us, quietly, gently, for the better.

“If we speak of the happiness of this life, the happy man needs friends, . . . not, indeed, to make use of them, since he suffices himself, nor to delight in them, since he possesses perfect delight in the operation of virtue; but for the purpose of a good operation, in other words, that he may do good to them; that he may delight in seeing them do good; and again that he may be helped by them in his good work. For in order that man may do well, whether in the works of the active life, or in those of the contemplative life, he needs the fellowship of friends.”

~ Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), Italian philosopher, priest, theologian, and author of the most influential commentaries on the philosophy of Aristotle, from his Summa Theologica

A PLAIN ORDINARY STEEL NEEDLE CAN FLOAT ON PURE WATER

Who hasn’t seen
a plain ordinary
steel needle float serene
on water as if lying on a pillow?
The water cuddles up like Jell-O.
It’s a treat to see water
so rubbery, a needle
so peaceful, the point encased
in the tenderest dimple.
It seems so simple
when things or people
have modified each other’s qualities
somewhat
we almost forget the oddity
of that.

~ Kay Ryan, born in 1945, American poet

The Truth about Small Towns

(Green Town by Friedensreich Hundertwasser, 1928-
2000, Austrian painter and architect)

“Now each man is imbued by nature with the light of reason,” wrote Thomas Aquinas in On Kingship, “and he is directed toward his end by its action within him. If it were proper for man to live in solitude, as many animals do, he would need no other guide towards his end; for each man would then be a king unto himself, . . . But man is by nature a social and political animal, who lives in a community: more so, indeed, than all other animals.”

~ Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), Italian philosopher, priest, theologian, and author of the most influential commentaries on the philosophy of Aristotle

from THE TRUTH ABOUT SMALL TOWNS

It never stops raining. The water tower’s tarnished
as cutlery left damp in the widower’s hutch.

If you walk slow (but don’t stop), you’re not from nearby.
All you can eat for a buck at the diner is

cream gravy on sourdough, blood sausage, and coffee.
Never lie. The preacher before this one dropped bombs

in the war and walked with a limp at parade time.
Until it burned, the old depot was a disco.

A café. A card shoppe. A parts place for combines.
Randy + Rhonda shows up each spring on the bridge.

If you walk fast you did it. Nothing’s more lonesome
than money. (Who says shoppe?) It never rains.

~ David Baker, born in 1954, American poet