stumblebum (Ist Corinthians 8:1-13)

at the bi-monthly meeting
         of the presbytery,
   there is so much
                  food,
     we can go back 2 or 3
            times (if we
          wanted) while
       the hungry homeless
   continue to scavenge
               the bins
      behind the building;

gathering, chatting, munching
   peanuts, sipping my pint
      with colleagues after
                   work,
         i catch a face
         out of the corner
            of my eye, seeing
    the college student (whose
    mother is an alcoholic)
       staring from a booth
       across the room, and i
   stutter-step over to say
            'hello';

as i head out to lunch
         with that person
         who is not my
               partner,
   i not-so-carefully
         tiptoe into
     that minefield of
        wrong assumptions
        that can pop into
           someone's mind,
   triggering
      that idle gossip
      which can slip too
         easily from their
      lips.

so
         untangle my freedoms
     to keep me from sticking
        them out in front of
             others, tripping
   them
        on their way
                      to
                      you.

(c) 2012 Thom M. Shuman