Ruminations

Thoughts on a Future Grief

image of a rock in the sea
Small rock off the Horn of Ramsness, Fetlar by Mike Pennington



Is it strange to enumerate what we have
By knowing what we are missing?

Do the contents of emptiness somehow form a container for what exists?Where in the void can it be found, that list?

Is it in a rock rising suddenly from under a wave?
Does it live in the step missed while traveling downwards?
The drop of water that escapes the glass
Slides downward to fall
Disappearing on summer concrete?

Perhaps it is in the flail of limbs in that moment
You find yourself in the nothing while sleeping.

Is it strange to enumerate what we are missing
By what we have?

When we count our blessings
Is a shadow list formed as we write
Mirroring the lines in lemon juice
Seen only by the heat of our tears?

Into the Night

Image via Pinterest

When I was a kid, passing by places like this at twilight, I always wondered about the people who lived in the apartments. Who were they? What were their lives like? Did they have dreams and hopes for the future or were they just doing the best they could to get from day to day?
I still wonder.