Here is a relaxation
exercise to keep you from
becoming way too intense
when faced with the dinosaur thump
of how to get through a day in America 
when nothing that opposes you
relents at any point:

first place both thumbs into 
the corners of your eyes and 
push out the balls until there’s room
to fill the sockets with blue soap 
that will foam when tears
fall into it as the eyeballs slide out
into the greasy air;

once that is complete
lean forward and let it all fall to the ground
where suds and tears will bloom
slick flowers from the cleansed pain and 
ask those nearby to describe them to you
while your eyes are settling back
into sight.

You will find yourself rising: no one
goes through this sort of thing
and remains close to the earth
for very long. Tensions that have been
your anchors will be unleashed and
so you will levitate and then soar, your eyes
still wet enough that all will be blurred
and dazzled with the new light.

You ask if the pain
and blindness are necessary?

Without them
you would find yourself
seeing things the same as ever.
You would not fly. 

You ask why you could not
simply meditate as they do
in other places
and as you’ve been taught?

This is America and
without the willingness
to lose all and see it all again
differently when you
come back to Earth, 
relaxation is just another word
for a huckster
to hang a dollar bill upon.