A Poem for the First Day in Rome

One moment there is only this.

You feel the weight of your now, its peculiar,

Particular gravity.

And the next moment, it is autumn

And the world sings change

Into being: again and again

And again. And you may still be

In pain. But you are happier

Than you have been in your long,

Flowing life.

Even as you reach

Toward a wholeness

That is not yet yours.

And you look back

On that person that you were

Who watched the world

Through a telescope lens

And you wish you could crouch down

And show her all

All that

You know now

And all that will never be known.

"I believe that I will see

The goodness of the Lord

In the land of the living."