danny came to me in a dream and i can't get him out of my head. he was in his very late teens and was looking for one last chance. he sat in front of me and the judge in his jeans and stained tan jacket, waiting and wishing for hope. waiting and wishing for anything.
danny had nothing except dead parents, a criminal record, and a rough haircut they gave him at stillwater. he'd commited almost every crime and was headed back to four small walls for the rest of his life, unless he could try just one more time to make it.
the judge told him
son, i am sick of seeing you. you need to go one way or the other. here's a check for thirty bucks. come back in seven days and tell me what you did with it.
with no where to go and no one to ask, danny went down hard. he grabbed the car keys from my purse, dove into the front seat of the lincoln, spun the engine and started smashing everything he saw. the challenge was too great, the offer too little, and too late.
i got to wondering: if you, yes you, were at the end of your rope with no where to turn and nothing to stop you, what would you do
with seven days and thirty bucks?
i'd like to know.
danny had nothing except dead parents, a criminal record, and a rough haircut they gave him at stillwater. he'd commited almost every crime and was headed back to four small walls for the rest of his life, unless he could try just one more time to make it.
the judge told him
son, i am sick of seeing you. you need to go one way or the other. here's a check for thirty bucks. come back in seven days and tell me what you did with it.
with no where to go and no one to ask, danny went down hard. he grabbed the car keys from my purse, dove into the front seat of the lincoln, spun the engine and started smashing everything he saw. the challenge was too great, the offer too little, and too late.
i got to wondering: if you, yes you, were at the end of your rope with no where to turn and nothing to stop you, what would you do
with seven days and thirty bucks?
i'd like to know.
2 comments:
Hmmm, almost biblical. Thus, intimidating.
The answer will depend on a person's age, experience, faith, location, well, all of that, and more.
Let's say, you asked the question of a Sudan refuge. $30 and seven days? Asked of a Wall Street stock trader, $30 and seven days? A buddhist? A fundamental Christian?
Context is important.
I'll answer form comfort, semi-aged, rural, somewhat Christian, somewhat buddihist, never a refuge. I have walked down Wall Street, and I was in the World Trade Center.
$30 and Seven Days:
If living in rural America, as I am
I would,
Buy tea,
very delicious tea,
and apples,
crisp, delicious
honey crisp
apples,
then seek,
a week of
shelter from a friend,
shelter from where,
I could see and smell
green and wet
earth.
I would try, hard,
to understand, that,
now, this moment,
is what I was
fighting for,
in my anger.
In one week,
seven days,
when the judge asked,
"what have you brought me?"
I would say,
"just this:
enjoy apples,
drink good tea,
enjoy this moment,
for that's all there is."
But, If I were in Brooklyn,
as I am not,
I would,
From a grocer,
buy apples,
and good tea,
and beg from my friends,
safe harbor,
above some street.
Then watch,
for a week,
as life passed by
below on the street.
As I enjoyed my apples
and tea.
Knowing that this
is as good
as it gets.
My anger and rage,
now a thing of the past
but my future now
the child of my past,
I would say to the judge,
"enjoy good apples,
drink very good tea,
thanks for the money,
I'll be on my way."
That's what I would do,
I think.
Buy
a
tank
of
gas
and
go
home.
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