"Ode to the Joyful Ones" by Thomas Lux

"The Dance" Henri Matisse, 1910

Shield your joyful ones.

—from an Anglican prayer

That they walk, even stumble, among us is reason

to praise them, or protect them—even the sound

of a lead slug dropped on a lead plate, even that, for them,

is music. Because they bring laughter’s

brief amnesia. Because they stand,

talking, taking pleasure in others,

with their hands on the shoulders of strangers

and the shoulders of each other.

Because you don’t have to tell them to walk toward the light.

Because if there are two pork chops

they will serve you the better one.

Because they will give you the crutch off their backs.

Because when there are two of them together

their shining fills the room.

Because you don’t have to tell them to walk toward the light.

"Ode to the Joyful Ones" by Thomas Lux from To the Left of Time.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016.