Today's Unexpected

Arrogantly aloof, I accelerate
Confident I know the way, what's around the turn
I've done this before
I daydream, or obsessively scheme
Instead of paying attention
There is no need for it

Something calls me to come to
I am not where I thought I would be
Don't know where I went wrong
Don't know where to turn around
I wish I wouldn't have disengaged
Tyrant Time sneers, ready to bite
And I start to bare my leg, defeated so quickly

But there is Grace, I remember
Always
This I'm learning
So I request, without right or merit
Help me return
And speak to my soul
For goodness' sake, be calm

The inner compass perks up, as if after the first sip of morning brew
As if, by a gentle hand, pulled to its feet from ignored isolation
I spot a sign, something familiar

Turn there

Then here

And now...

Welcome to Grace's overflow, a gift come early this day
Tree branches, hundreds of them swaying in the morning breeze
Yellowed leaves fluttering, dancing, whispering
All around me falling, whirling
Shielding me from the shame of losing myself yet again

"Hush there, hush", speaks the broom, soothing the sidewalks
Collecting the falling treasures
Wiping away dusty frustration
While a warm wind evaporates the perspiration from my eyebrows
While sunlight sprinkles itself onto the pavement in playful patterns
Onto the road, long and inviting
     laid out before me, only for me at this moment

I stop and ask a watchman, to be sure, and sure enough

     My Path is just ahead, just a little further

Grace
Not only to return
But also to give moments beautiful through which to do so
As I slowly move down what must be the most enchanting street in town

A true story this is, having just happened this morning
And happening so very often
     when I find myself where I didn't expect to
     or am found where I didn't intend to be

Heat

My pores are confronted with the intensity

They open, and into the fibers of my being It comes

     All at once, as I step from climate control to out of control

     And then moment by moment, more slowly, more thoroughly

My body temperature, my emotional temperature both rise

     As I wind my way down the hill, out from the shelter of trees,

     Onto the black, which takes It and throws It back at me

I come to a stand still, and without the wind to disguise, It grows in size

    Becomes larger than life itself, consuming, violating all boundaries

    It joins in thick cohort with fumes, engines, thousands of bodies

I put up my face shield, take a deep breath and for a moment, wonder if I am overcome


But no...not now, I'm not

It comes into my lungs and finds something working, something living there

It comes in and settles...and can do nothing else

Because in all Its oppression, It really is only a vapor

     These lungs were meant for breathing

     These fibers for toughing It out

And so, though It taunts, eventually It can do nothing but yawn,

     A ferocious lion sleeping lazily in the afternoon.