The days slide by as we live out these steps that lead us down the path of the finest destination any of us has ever traveled. Don’t think. Don’t anticipate. Just be. Be the chirping crickets, the dancing fireflies, the coyotes howling at the moon. Be the crashing sea, the howling wind, the ever-changing clouds that dance through the sky serenaded by the wind and the moon and the stars. Be the never ending breeze and motion and whirl of the earth and stars. The thing that brings you closer to me. And when it’s all over know that we looked into each other’s eyes and saw the last rays of the sun and knew that there is something more…something else… something…
And if it comes to pass that I never see you again I’ll smile. And I’ll cry. And this day will end as they all do, with the ticking of the clock, the last few flutters of my eyelids, and the shortening of my breath as I drift to sleep. And the moon will float across the sky. And the opossums will do their dance as the quietness creeps in to overcome the howling of the day. Maybe you can hear the crashing of the waves on the shore, like a far-off explosion, water, and earth colliding in a great gesture of acquiescence and grace.
For some, the last time they will see the sun swallowed by the sea, and the red coral and pink hues fading as the light slowly grows dim. Still, in the morning the birds will wake up hungering for ticks and worms and the things birds eat, and the insects will begin to buzz, the squirrels chatter, and the lives that we know will again awaken to the subtle tones of an ancient banjo, one that jangled its four strings for the sinners, the thieves, the losers that had nowhere else to go, torn apart by the uncaring hubris of the chosen few, of the selfish concerns of those who choose money over love.
Let’s hear it for the ones who give and gave, who took ideas and turned them into truths. Who stood on a mountain and screamed at the top of their lungs, who walked humbly by but taught us that life is meant for living, worth fighting for, and for lighting up the world.
A light we each hold inside. A light that illuminates every one of us. If we can just find the switch. If we can just light a fire. If we can just…shine.