A Mighty Kindness

Sometimes, though I’m not supposed

to know, I feel such a deep and timeless

ache that I’m certain my heart has

been alive for centuries.

Sometimes, it pulses with wounds and

joys that no one can withstand alone

and I go speechless.

In the actual moment of such feeling

I am a flag with no country

and in the days that follow

I often talk about freedom

and start to read many books,

never finishing them.

I start to write to friends

lost along the way

and stare at night

into lonelinesses

not entirely mine

and entirely mine.

My heart, though I’m not

supposed to know, is a red sun

holding me in its orbit.

But most precious

is how I feel

the timeless heart

in all things,

even in faceless grass,

waist high, and stone

glistening with frost, and in

you with the stars in your head.

Though I’m not supposed to know,

our lives flap like clothes on a line,

dancing to the movement of things

that can never be understood.

A Question to Walk With: Describe one aspect of life that is larger than you to which you feel a kinship.

This excerpt is from my book, The Way Under The Way: The Place of True Meeting, 2016 Nautilus Award Winner.

*photo credit: Pixabay