Our final breath comes when,
at long last,
we nudge back toward
infinity.
Billions of atoms
moving through time and space –
locked within the confines of skin
in a dance with life, itself.
Too short, this
parenthesis in eternity;
as time flexes to accommodate
the neverending flow between pleasure and pain.
Like waves upon the ocean, we roll
back and forth,
endlessly adjusting
while our basic nature remains the same.
If the ocean changes little in millennia,
how, then, are we expected
to stem the flow of thoughts and responses,
habitual as the tides?
The need for quiet contemplation
nudges a thickened consciousness.
If we fail to heed the call,
push out reflection in favor of reaction,
the gulf expands until a chasm opens up,
threatening to swallow our
best intentions.
One may become a stranger
even to oneself.
~ bj