In the midst of daily living
  random worlds collide
not every day
but often
my mind will drift
to a dreamlike state,
lost in the heat of burning years.

Today for example
I watched my daughter graduate.
She crossed the stage diploma in hand,
yesterday a pudgy cheeked toddler
with untamed curls and phlegmy laughter.

The years in-between? Smoke.
Smoldering fading fire.
Lingering scent.
Such is life.
Naivety is for the young.
It dissipates with age.

Another example tonite
my wife and I went to dinner,
her children went with us to celebrate.
A surprise party with nothing but smiles,
while yesterday I lived alone and without love
in a hateful and bitter place.

Smoke.
Smoldering fading fire.
Lingering scent.

A journey through the mind
like a field general re-living scenes of war,
he'll take his guilt to the grave
where there should be only glory.

Laughter brings me back.
She smiles at me.
She knows where I have been.
She has seen a different fire.

The irony of the moments is stark.

Bittersweet morning hugs,
tears and congratulations.
Comfortable laughter tonight,
love and appreciation.

What a spinning day of varied emotion,
a collision
of the lives I’ve lived,
orchestrated by a cosmic eye.

Nothing is random.

the best I can do
is take whatever comes my way.
Open the cage of time,
shoo the wings of worry away.
There is only today.

I'm still learning to live with stinging eyes
and see through the dissipating smoke.

The dissipating smoke of the burning years.