a poem i wrote two days ago at the lake

When I awoke it was dark

and stayed so for another hour or two.

I was northbound and all alone;

alone, and very content.

In the early morning I am always

watchful, and calmly giddy

as I wait for the sun.

Each time I drove past a golden field

I seemed

frantic

to take as many glances as possible,

as if this could be my last morning,

my last chance to gaze upon the glory of this

gift,

the universe.

I might be getting better at letting go of time;

spontaneity is not innate to me.

But today I seized a moment,

for a moment.

I took a turn off the highway and followed gravel

into a sunlit expanse.

At first I didn’t know they were there—

I was momentarily captivated by the Light.

We saw each other at the same time—

they both watched me as I watched,

beaming at the way the daughter pranced with

awkward bounces after her wise and coordinated mother,

their short white tails

shining.

I continued the now-familiar wind

home

to Fredmar drive,

turning and gazing through the trees

as I rumbled down the gravel.

A gasp and a smile jumped forth as I saw what God made for me today—

Out to the dock! Quickly, before it goes away.

The biting mist brushed along my colorless bare feet

on the damp wooden dock.

It was all around me,

cool Breath encompassing so much life.

Underneath the bitter air,

a hundred minnows enjoyed their more consistent home, still warm from

yesterday’s sun.

Whatever it was that seemed to worry me

yesterday

just doesn’t seem very big now.

The morning makes me so small

and the world so big.

And I happened upon some magic in the book of James,

as I watched today’s scene

on the lake.

“Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow,” he says.

“What is your life?

You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.”