Poem: “a warm day in october”

some days are good
some days you’ve done your work

and you’re reading a good book about Thoreau
and it’s a warm day
and you had a good salad for lunch
with a good cold-brew coffee
and you take the dog for a walk
and there’s a slightly warm breeze
it’s a warm day in Ocotber
and he finds an old tennis ball and you play fetch

some days are good
you feel it in your chest, an opening
and you know it doesn’t last
and that’s ok
because this is enough
these few minutes justify the entire universe
you think of times years ago
when you thought about ending it
checking out early
and you didn’t
and today justifies that

nothing special
no fireworks, no ritual, no celebration
no lover in your arms, no riches
no special success
only the universe
and maybe a poem coming on
oh yeah
that’s enough
on a warm day in october
call it a blessing
the kami of the land have smiled today
or the Great Mystery gave you a wink
or a fortuitous surge of electrochemical phenomena between your ears

you think of other moments like this
a few
standing in the woods in Mino, outside Osaka
walking around Boston Harbor
watching the wind in the trees across from a gas station
random (maybe?) strikes of the divine
you take little souvenirs from each
and tuck them away in your heart
it’s just enough to know
that this has happened
justifying it all