#title The best human gift is perspective
#author Andrei Codrescu
#SORTauthors Andrei Codrescu;
#date 2021
#source [[https://www.fifthestate.org/archive/410-fall-2021/the-best-human-gift-is-perspective]]
#lang en
#pubdate 2022-01-09
#notes Fifth Estate #410, Fall, 2021

it’s also the worst

when used in circumstances calling for a closeup

or in circumstances that call for detachment

it is only a gift when it employs the appropriate distance

that minimizes pain

between the observer and the observed

.

we have a school for teaching appropriate distance

it’s called a slum a favella

.

how long

do I have to stay away?

.

a circumstance is a circus and a stance

.

without the circus I fold like a limp rag

when the circus comes I take a stance

.

i am an observer at the circus, rarely get paid

Andrei Codrescu is a Romanian-born American poet, novelist, essayist, screenwriter, and commentator for National Public Radio. This poem is from the author’s forthcoming book of poetry, <em>Too Late for Nightmares</em> (Alba Press). He writes, “Fifty books later I still think that words are not outrageous enough.”

He lives and works in Brooklyn.