I wrote this half a lifetime ago as a reminder to myself to stay present, but I feel like I need this reminder now more than ever. There is so much occupying my mental bandwidth these days that it’s easy to get wrapped up in my own head and forget to experience life’s beauty. I need to breathe through the pain, which is part of that beauty, and not get fixated on it to the point where it clouds my reality. One step forward at a time, while grounded and mindful of each step, and soon you’ve run a hundred miles and into a new world.
A divine dance of green leaf-light
Awakened by the evening’s glow
Forever lost to narrowed sight
This contrived night
A thought’s shadow
My footfalls fall upon deaf ears
My mind consumed by fallen tears
Claim nature’s pace as my birthright
And dissolve these implanted fears
Though lesson’s learned I can’t explore
Results of this philosophy
For habits burned into my core
Prevent no more
Than words from me
But words are seeds that carry hope
And soon forgotten roots will grope
Through cracks in future present’s door
To witness life and I elope
For on that special wedding day
Without my stubborn past’s consent
Each sounding step will lead the way
To feel the play
Of each moment