Today will not lay down
Before you,
It is a gamble –
Turning cards, rolling dice;
There is a cost, a sacrifice…
You may have paid yesterday,
Or the price can come due tomorrow –
But whatever it is, anything you do,
The bill will be in the box demanding
Your hours spent making currency
Of your life, who you have become
Who you will grow further to be.
Smile,
Yes, smile,
Let go the doubt that troubles,
Even as you are, others too must be,
All are transcribing signals –
Determining how to be happy in
The constraints of our humanity.
As you stand before your mirror
Bless the image you see,
Recognize you belong,
A part of everything:
Snow-melt off the mountains,
Sunlight baking asphalt,
Electricity coursing through the wires,
Dogs barking erratically,
Grass growing until mown –
You are past, present, and futurity.
© Jo Ann J. A. Jordan
Haphazard Creative 