Crooked

Thank you, Haiku Heights, for the initial prompt: "crooked". Classical music streaming through my speakers, autumn streaming through my window...I found myself drawn off the intended path today. But no matter; there's wisdom here!


your crooked smile is
a sapling's bend in a breeze --
unassuming grace.



live in the moment,
do not fear tomorrow's ire,
cherish yesterday.


as Summer's heart slows
leaves cling to dying branches.
Live well to the end.


learn to cherish life's
beautiful fragility.
beautiful, too: death.


embrace the unknown,
respect the unknowable,
chase the mystery.


obsess not over
a temporal permanence.
live life and accept.


at least strive to grasp
an enduring acceptance
of what you can't change.


inside, cultivate

a vulnerability
that feels every shifting wind
even when you turn your cheek


do not fear death -- mere
inevitability
doesn't dictate life.



summer's end foretold,
strength pools beneath Mother's breast.
sleep and dream of more