The gods have conspired
They have a message
For me, for you, for us:
Slow down
Wake up
Pay attention

We coast through life
Rushing from here to there
Life a blur
Our focus on what is next
The next dollar
The next function
The next day
The next

Slow down
Rushing is fruitless
It gets you not to where you want to be
Nor where you need to be
Any faster
Only more flustered

Wake up
Stop drifting through life
As if a dream
The worst of all dreams
Until one day you are forty
With only hypertension
As proof of life lived

Pay attention
Look around at all there is
The world is your oyster
You’ve shut out all that is beautiful
All that is worthy
In order to rush

Snow has covered the earth
Bitter cold has enveloped the air
The wind is screaming
Slow down!
Wake up!
Pay attention!
The gods have conspired.