Hazelnut and Popcorn

J. Marshall Jenkins

Because God loves it,
a hazelnut holds
the whole world,
said Mother Julian.
So hold the world
in the palm of your hand.
They say great things
fill the world:
governments,
military operations,
corporations,
stock markets,
cities, and vast,
technological colossi.
They seem like galaxies!
No, they are movies
projected on a screen,
and when a tired hand
flips a switch
after a long day’s night,
darkness covers
empty seats
before a grand stage
filled with nothing.
In the silence
of the empty theatre,
walk softly. Pick up
a solitary popcorn
dropped unnoticed.
You hold the world
in the palm of your hand
even as you are held.

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