1

Though your friends and family
will likely try
to save you from it,
yours is nobody else’s
business or responsibility.

2

You cannot cause,
manufacture or manipulate it.
It comes, if at all,
as gift to be received
with gratitude.

3

Hope to receive it
and prepare by giving away
what you least want to lose.
On this point
Jesus and Buddha dance.

4

Refuse to carry the burden
of maintaining it.
That’s unnecessary baggage,
will betroth you
to a boulder and a hill.

5

If you receive some,
scatter it like seed.
Sharing assures preservation.
As with manna,
held tight, it rots.

All rights reserved.
Posted with kind permission of the poet.

Photo by Michael Schwarzenberger


Poetry