Here Beyond Life As We Know It
Life as we know it has been canceled.
The millions of urgent tasks
we crudely stacked together to construct a
shaky house of safety and worth—
shattered.
Looking back,
through the fragments
we can see
how fragile
a life we’ve been desperate to create,
and how we chose not to look
at each other as human,
at the earth as an audaciously grand,
exquisite living force,
at the truth
that we are not in control,
and the mandate
that our bodies will die
in the end.
No wonder we have all been so anxious,
and angry,
for so long.
No wonder we are tired
and unable to rest.
Now,
our badges of busy,
shredded
to a stop.
Nowhere to go,
just here
where it’s quiet
and we can hear the earth speak again.
Here, where we are being asked to forge
a new relationship with time,
and listen better,
to ourselves, each other
and the layers of fear and doubt
that echo from the hollow of uncertainty.
Here, where the myth of separation falls apart,
and we can begin to make amends
for the thousands of ways
we have become estranged from ourselves,
and so began to outcast the others.
Here, where we cannot outrun our sadness,
and are left to feel the weight
of all that we’ve loved
and longed for.
Finally, free
to grieve it all.
Here, where presence is a real possibility,
and, at last,
there is room for rest.
Here, where we have the time
to reach out to one another
simply
listening with an open mind,
praying with an open heart,
singing from an open window,
in hopes that the touch of our love
finds and blesses
the one
that is lonely or afraid.
As we all are forced to slow
to the rhythm of real life,
and the whole world stands still,
we are left with no other task
but to allow the pieces to fall
where they may.
And now,
all of this momentum stops
at a risky proposition:
What if we don’t pick the pieces back up?
What if we let it all break down into compost,
to create the rich ground
from which we can begin
to begin again?
What if life re-imagined
is already starting to germinate here?
I do feel these tender roots
spindling down, spreading out,
taking hold
in the soil of myself.
They are delicate and enticing,
but the possibility they are
could be easily ripped out
by a notion doubt.
Though wildly unreasonable,
I trust,
if we dare to stay empty,
here in the hush,
beyond the self-important rush,
and surrender well,
perhaps we will be given
another chance,
yet to become…