Friday, April 1, 2011

Poem A Day Challenge for April 1

I suppose I might have written an April Fool's Day poem. But alas, I didn't. This is the first day of the Poem A Day Challenge. Based on it's ending mood, I hope it's not my last. But it is what it is.... 

What Got Me Here
by Bill Kirk 

Certainly it's true, 
Some goals and objectives 
We reach by design. 
You know---the planned ones, 
For which we set our destinations, 
Whether figurative or literal, ahead of time; 
Then plot our path, 
Pack our provisions, 
And strike out, 
Relatively secure in the knowledge 
We will get there--- 
By our own two hands. 

Other times, pure serendipity wins the prize 
For getting us to where we are--- 
Landing us square in the middle of 
Good fortune or not, 
Where we are left 
To take advantage of unanticipated 
Targets of opportunity. 
And quick thinking alone 
Makes the outcome our own, 
As if we are the ones responsible somehow 
For being where we are, 
For better or worse. 

Yet, on occasion isn't it simply 
The passage of time 
That allows us simply to be, 
Never mind how we got to the spot? 
Mightn't such unplanned "while you wait" moments, 
Be the sum of the what and the how of where we are--- 
Like the instant between breaths 
When there is neither ebb nor flow? 
During those times, 
We sit in the midst of quiet or turbulence, 
Doing nothing in particular 
And certainly nothing of special value 
Or personal advantage in mind. 

Such circumstances of time and place 
Neither sought nor pursued 
Are gifts of a sort---wanted or not, 
For which there is nothing to do 
Beyond acknowledging the 
Unexpected blessing of another moment 
In hopes of a much delayed, 
Yet inevitable... 
End.

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