yesterday, today, tomorrow

Yesterday
the sun never shone,
never emerged from behind the clouds,
hell, I don’t even know if it was there.
I existed in darkness.
I cannot say I lived in darkness
for I barely felt alive.
I just was.
Weights wrapped tight around my ankles
and a boulder on my chest
kept me in the darkness,
not that I wanted to leave, anyway.
What is the point of all this?

Today
I felt the sun penetrating my skin
while my eyes remained closed in sleep.
I see no clouds in the sky,
just the sun
beaming down on everything, and me.
I still feel the boulder
but my ankles move free
and I marvel at this gift of life
and light.

Tomorrow
offers only guesses at the sun’s intentions
and my mind’s interpretation.
I could check the forecast,
anticipate a plan to bring success and light
but it would be all for nothing
as history dictates.

Yesterday
I was handcuffed in the trunk.
Today
I sit in the driver’s seat.
Tomorrow
there could be a flat tire.

Up and down, and side to side
strapped tight into this roller coaster seat
I sit, blindfolded,
holding on to me, for dear life.

All I have,
is me,
now.

the heat and the coolness

If I stand here,
still enough for long enough
and breathe,
I can feel the heat of the sun
penetrating my skin
warming me from the inside out,
I can feel the coolness
of the soft wind brushing
and sliding over me,
I can feel the solid, firm ground
unwavering beneath my feet.

I feel the heat and the coolness
at the same time,
inside and outside
my body.
Open my eyes to be blinded
by the sun
dancing across the water
and a new gust of wind
tousling my hair.

Heartbreakingly beautiful.

the moving sun

The shade will only rest here
for so long
before the moving sun
will outrun the stationary house
to come over the rooftop
and find me,
take away my solace,
roast me.

The shade retreats further
under the sun’s ominous power,
shrinking.
Here I will stay
as long as possible,
until it’s gone.

Here I will stay
until it’s time to move on.

how fast change happens

We can see
hundreds of different sunsets
all in one night,
a kaleidoscope of colors,
where to look away even for a minute
and look back again,
decorates our eyes with a brand new view,
and we wonder,
at how fast change happens.

We can see this,
marvel at and treasure
our lives, and how fast change happens,
with this same sense of wonder
if we choose.

the clouds come back

Just as soon as I am laughing and smiling,
basking in the warm afternoon sun,
the clouds come back
and the fog settles in,
pushing me back down, down to the ground again.

In an instant everything changes.
How can it happen so fast?
I scarcely had time to enjoy being happy
before my mind took it away again.