"Everyday we must learn again how to love."

In the Middle

of a life that's as complicated as everyone else's,

struggling for balance, juggling time.

The mantle clock that was my grandfather's

has stopped at 9:20; we haven't had time

to get it repaired. The brass pendulum is still,

the chimes don't ring. One day I look out the window,

green summer, the next, the leaves have already fallen,

and a grey sky lowers the horizon. Our children almost grown,

our parents gone, it happened so fast. Each day, we must learn

again how to love, between morning's quick coffee

and evening's slow return. Steam from a pot of soup rises,

mixing with the yeasty smell of baking bread. Our bodies

twine, and the big black dog pushes his great head between;

his tail, a metronome, 3/4 time. We'll never get there,

Time is always ahead of us, running down the beach, urging

us on faster, faster, but sometimes we take off our watches,

sometimes we lie in the hammock, caught between the mesh

of rope and the net of stars, suspended, tangled up

in love, running out of time.

By Barbara Crocker

Someone asked me for a poem today, one he knew and that reminded him of how to be a grown up, how to be strong and how to hold on. To hold on to courage and love and respect.

It brought tears to my eyes when I read the words. How strong he is trying to be. How much he loves words. How much of his life has been pain and sorrow. How broken he has been and how much he is carrying inside.

He is someone who loves words, who has had bad times in his life and is now at a point where life can improve or spiral out of control. He has no family really, most have rejected him through his own mistakes. He is not a friend of mine and won't be such. Finding poems for people is not really in my job description but how could I say no? Being human and compassionate.....that's all there is.

This isn't the poem he asked for but one that reminds me of how full my life is and how thankful I am for each beautiful moment. Vowing today(again) to take off my watch more often.