For Shirley, February 2006
I think we can celebrate
For time has no weight
And slips off us like warm air caresses
The cheeks of a confident traveller.
Where have you come from?
You turn to glimpse the numinous, scarcely visible
Trace of your passage.
I am here!
Where are you going?
I am here!
Here. Now.
My life is condensed to this intense jewel.
Here. Now.
And I feel all my experience
Furl itself into the lovely form
Of a guardian angel
At my shoulder, to guide me.
Where are you going?
Forward.