Thoughts on Life

Time is strange

Days fly by

I thought this month

this year it will settle

I’ll know what day it is

In which month and year

Maybe life is just a series

Of competing whirlwinds

Some dodge the house

Some barrel right through the front door

Scrambling the living room

Then smashing through the kitchen

Upending pots and spilling drinks

Before pulling up the garden

And toppling fruit trees as a final punctuation

To its destructive and uninvited festivities

Maybe life rather than structures

And morning coffee mugs

In a well-ordered house

Is a million small actions

That place flowers in vases

Square up family portraits on shaken walls

Sharing from their own kitchens

When yours has gone to pieces

Maybe the very ground we stand on

Is the bits of love grown up through cracks in patio bricks

Holding our feet steady

Keeping us from tipping over

So we may see when the storm has taken its leave

The ones we love the most are still with us

Even if only in memory

And sunsets call us every evening

To stop and stand in awe

To admire the glory and chaos of it all

Being grateful for another day

In which we had a chance to participate in

The grand adventure that will surely take us all eventually

But until then: pause, be still,

notice all the love and life

That filled this day

Written on my way to see a dear friend in January 2023.