Long Enough

by Jo Ann Baldinger

Your guru said, you become the thing you behold
if you gaze at it long enough.

It might be Jesus on the cross, or the teacher
whose icy glare destroyed the entire fifth grade

or that black-haired woman bent over your crib,
a row of diaper pins glittering in her mouth.

It could be someone you see every day—
the neighbor trimming the laurel hedge just so,

his hoodlum kid checking out your windows,
the cheerful girl who always puts the mangoes

at the bottom of the sack. And Holden said,
you miss everyone if you wait long enough.

You might find yourself missing
the beautiful cross-eyed girl who stole

your first love. Because, just because,
you were all here together.