But our lives are not the tomorrow

they are not the yesterday

For, the tomorrow seizes the nerves and twists the stomach

the yesterday hangs laboriously about the shoulders

No, our lives are today.

 

today, I am a bird

the overwhelming freeze of the water wicks off of my feathers

I spread them and the wetness shakes off

I set my sight to the clouds and take flight

expanding my gaze, I don't see. I feel.

 

and rain will come

They will retrieve umbrellas and duck under awnings

hair will frizz up and smiles will fall down

but I will look up and welcome the rain

for I have learned to simply close my eyes and dance in it

 

Joy is found in these perfect moments

when the surrounding nothingness looks like peace

not emptiness

when the wind awakens the human spirit

rather than burdening it

 

What fills the caverns of my wanting heart

is unbeknownst to the passerby's mind

but in the sacred hollows of that gentle soul

lives a flowering pasture of rolling hills and wise oak trees

thick with offerings of safety and serenity

 

therein lives my passions and loves

how a man drenched in humility can be perfectly nervous

when courting a pretty girl

how a father drenched in compassion will lay awake in prayer

wishing safety on his runaway son

 

God created every heart with different elements

each in need of a secret ingredient for its faultless completion

some requiring sacrifice or leadership

others calling for laughter or healing

but all smelling of love and fulfillment when they are well done