When will my goodbye come? – Contemplative Poetry

This morning I went for a swim in the rain, then I wrote what I guess you could call a piece of contemplative poetry. I share it, not because it is anything special, but because it’s not. I want to celebrate the ordinary, the freedom of not trying to be anything, of not seeking, not chasing after peace or enlightenment or anything else, just being me – whatever that is. Not knowing is fine. Not defining anything is fine. Everything is fine, even when it’s not.

Here’s my poetic contemplation:

When will my goodbye come?
When will be the last moment my eyes look upon this beauty?
This fresh green;
This velvet water.
Caressing my skin as the cicadas sing.

So fleeting is my life,
My stewardship of this land with which I am one;
All that I have built;
All that I have nurtured;
One day I must say my final farewell.

I do not know when;
Be it soon or later, this moment is all I have;
The birds chirping;
The gentle falling rain;
I greet you with gratitude for the gift of this moment.

These photos are of my garden. It’s what I looked at as I wrote. Yes, I am truly blessed to live somewhere so beautiful.

If you have any artistic expressions in words or photos that you’d be willing to share, please send them to me at tahlia (a) beyondthetemple.com. (Replace the a in brackets with the usual email form. I write it this way so bots can’t grab the email address.) I think we all have something to contribute from our own experience, something that will resonate with others living beyond the temple.