An ordinary morning
in October
no different
from another day's
people, time, place, space
all come together
in what we name:
existence

every moment
an enticement
how shall we grasp
the day, escape self-entrapment?
the world is an unending
playing field
what rewards
will it yield?

do we look away
in unreadiness or doubt?
look at the kids
how free, how happy
they sing, how they dance
frolic and shout!

let us live
life is fragile
the past is memory
the future is misty
but the present
is the prize
and the most worthwhile

time takes
no one's side
it's the lonely sentinel
to none and nothing allied

amidst this fragility
and contingency
to whom should I turn
what should I learn?

at this hour
the children
have left he field
for home
and silence begins
to descend
a sudden strange silence
sets in to reign
a deep feeling
wells in my heart
what it portends
is beyond my understanding
left alone to my thoughts
I have a sense of loss
as gone is this October morning