From time to time the large things idly twitch
and shake, burn, or wash off a parasite:
why should the Sun not flare if irked inside
or Earth not shake us off if she should itch?
After catastrophe we find insight
through eyes opened by force which smashes lives,
a temporary gift for who survive
beyond their first view in that painful light.
      What poignant clarity in letting go!
      But what regret from drugged days dormant
      only unveiled by Death, who calls all bluffs.
      Grant me to glimpse what I've not learned to know;
      Grant me to live present in each moment;
      Grant me to love while I have time enough.