Seeing new perspectives

Hello friends. This poem I wrote in May 2018 speaks to the inevitability of diminished activity, both in mind and body. As much as we put off thinking about our decline, daily activity becomes a reminder. Aging is a time to enjoy new perspectives and notice more subtle harmonies. They have always been there, but we have been too busy to take notice. Watching the earth in its eternal dance is a comforting way to spend an hour on the porch, realizing that quote by Lao Tzu: man is ruled by nature, nature is ruled by Heaven, Heaven is ruled by The Way (Tao), and The Way is ruled by itself. Best, Gene

 

Showers in Dimming Light

 

In dimming light, I am folded
into a watery world on our screened porch,
after hours of sultry showers.

Rain-sound becomes a soft concert,
as the swelling Oconee shines oddly orange,
and the sun struggles to save its dusk.

I feel a need to let go
into this peaceful solitude,
a pleasant land for the old,

who learn to stop pushing,
to welcome the gifts of less
in a confounding yet humorous way,

when memory takes a sudden holiday
from old friends like Michelangelo
and Galileo, even Tony, the mailman.

Now a harder shower brings dancing
fireflies into the last light
as I surrender to a sustaining embrace

in these unknown currents
along new eddies of discovery.

–May 28, 2018