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