All That’s Ahead of Me – Redwing Keyssar, R.N.

ALL THAT’S AHEAD OF ME

All that’s ahead of me,
I don’t know
How can I?
Such tight circles form the spirals
of this life
No straight lines
No breath is separate
from the one before it, or after
Each step allows us to see the very next one,
That is all
Not the illusions or circumstances
that lie beyond the curve of the path we walk

How can I know what is ahead?
I can imagine
I can wish
I can dream
I can hope
I can even plan
But ah, the suffering of humans that comes
with attachment to our plans

If I dig down deep
And come up slowly for air
What I know is this:
I must let the tides take me
I will never become a warrior in the battle against cancer
because I have no enemies whom I wish to defeat
I must allow the unfolding of life and love,
and love
All the possibilities
I must develop acuity of listening
to others
And to the inner workings
and complicated mechanisms
of the ticking timepiece
of my own heart
and mind

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