i want to be great because
i want to be worthy of creation i want
to show that this kit can build a tower
and be ravished upstream and grizzly eaten
i want that tower to be appreciated, first by the tool giver
but evidenced by my community is that the praise of men?
i cannot quite see the selfless life realized
in the pursuit of greatness

maybe selflessness is not self-diminishing
but right opinion, the positioning of self
as created, gifted, and fragile, a sum of
circumstance and features

selflessness is reaching for the magnificent as an
expression of obligation to an artist-teacher God
no, not obligation, but obedience, chosen from understanding
proportion and mountains and tired muscles and good sleep and
a days good work
diminishing is perhaps a great offense.

- JJ