Make sure it’s interesting
for S

God spoke from the Heavens
      Don’t ask questions!  How-to
      is not why.  Just do
      what I say!
Now we have the telephone.

Again and again
I hear myself advise my daughter
suffering through Kant and term
paper blues, first year at the smart
rich kids’ college, goyishe heaven
she chose because she was so tired
of being nerd, so tired of being
weird big frog in this small
town friendly boring pond.
But now she feels blubbery,
big nosed, klutzy, dumb!

52%, I tell her, with impossible
maternal optimism.  Make sure
your days are 52%
happy 52% content 52% the smile
side of good.

And the rest?  she asks
indulging me. I dive
right in:  When you suffer
make sure it feels like it’s going
some where new.
Make it interesting!
Not this same old same
old same old. You’ve been afraid

of term papers since 7th grade.
Boring!  Solve it!
So the next mystery
can shake you.
This is one of those Repeater
Lessons we keep learning and relearning
from the Handbook of Suffering.