glimpses of David

in the realm

of the senses

his eyes and

ears excel:

seeing beautiful

pictures from

delightful angles

wearing sharp

clothes with style

and color

and listening

with astute ears

for narrative twists

and stories gone

awry, he hears

between the script

lines to the

un-saids and

subtexts.

his tongue is

more exquisitely

attuned

to speaking

than to tasting

perhaps

suppressed

some

by disciplined

resistance to

celebratory

abandon

or indulgence

in the sins

of excess

food and drink.

out and about

his smile

beckons

warm

approachability

on the edge

of the crowd

and the vigorous

enthusiasm

of his hug

belies

the long ago

hurting neglect

of close comfort

for the wiry boy

yearning for

ineffable

soothing

in the

sparsely

rationed

scarcity of

homelove

but he more than

compensates

for being

insufficiently

attended early

by tracking

others now

shockingly well

he is confluent

in a flash.

and with 

a resonant

burst of a

joining laugh

of recognition

he high-heat fires

a simple reduction

to glaze

a fluffy confection

of your own

fumbling thoughts

into hisown

quick but tasty

recipe.

he seems to

understand

what you

were trying to say

rather better

than you

thought you did.

with a

conclusive

reformulation that’s

constructed or

confabulated

in a  brilliant flip

of firmly

connecting

abstractions:

right off the top

of that bright

shiny dome,

artfully

articulated

through salt

peppered,

fu-manchurian

rapid firing

lips

punctuated

by darting eyes

asparkle.

and you feel confirmed.

fiercely present

strongly there

in a pinch

he shows up

(perhaps a few minutes late)

very attentive.

both coolly rational

and intensely emotional

about so very many things,

whether they be

the guiltless pleasures of

deconstructing

The Wire

or The Sopranos

or one of his more

solitary emersions:

like sportstalk or

late night radio

conspiracy shows

or arcane applications

of hard scientific theory

to social-psych

dynamics

or mastering the

basics of the violin

or connecting

hopi indian rites of passage

to inner city kids

finding their way…

he knows betting lines

and players’ names

and where they

went to school

he homeworks his

march madness pools

and his Gurdjieff

study group

and explodes

when his team scores

while forever

second guessing

Andy Reid’s strategies

and time management

fiascos.

he provides

running commentary

for the democrats’ lame

efforts

and the neighborhood

coffee shop’s leadership

and Steve Buschemi’s

(alleged)

lack of posture

as a leading man:

he’s got

strong feelings

and opinions

which he

probably

prefers to

modulate in

response to

yours

first expressed,

but if he leads

with his own stuff

be prepared

to weather

a strong flurry

of attitude

defended.

he’s abstemious

and disciplined

eschewing

an earlier life

of dissolution:

austerely

non imbibing

non-snacking

and non frivolous

but is as silly

as possible

about the

ironically

ridiculous

sound and fury

of the existential

comedy

we absurdly

and determinedly

perform.

he’s an anxious

loving father

who hovers

in the distance

worrying from afar

(restraining

old impulses

to crowd on defense)

he observes

and follows

nuanced details

of his no longer

children’s lives

finding his way

to be there

without being

too there.

and he resolutely

faces the

mundane yet

still herculean

challenge

of being as

available to

his partner

as to

those

encountered

on the fly

whilst

being-in-the-world.

he travels

marriage’s

long road

(mostly)

generously

and willingly

paying the tolls and

value added taxes

to receive

the rich dividends

that mutuality

and fairness

provide in the

sharing of a

so much more

stable life:

sound mates

enjoying the

swell pride

of partnering

and parenting

well.

out in the world

he is often quite

circumspect

and always

quite thoughtful:

both politic and

judiciously

political:

he works well

to be connected

and hard to

stay in touch

right now,

and, for a

fortunate few,

over time.

usually he knows

people who know people

who get things done.

and he gets things done

and helps people

hook up to people

to get things done.

his opinion is valued

his friendship is prized

his connections envied

he is a man often

hovering

on the edge

and in the background

who can also lead

from the front

with the spotlight

bright

but whether

in the public glare

or in the private glow

we see just glimpses

of David at any one

moment

while the

complexities

and human

contradictions

that  reside beneath

the layered depths

are revealed in

bits and pieces

as the larger puzzle

remains not

quite yet

fully solved