Turning
Tom Soma
(For Kelly Ramzy, on her 22nd birthday)
Sometimes
the road takes us
where we’d rather not go.
The weather
is cloudy and cool
when we’re counting on
sunny and warm.
The friend
we wanted to see
is seeing someone else.
In other words,
life’s plans for us
flout our plans for life.
But we
still get to choose
our response.
That’s when
it’s helpful to remember
that we’re conceived
in the image
of a kindly Maker…
that we’re born
with our own unique
spark of divinity…
and that
every breath we take
is a fleeting and precious
gift.
We do well,
to humbly turn
and re-turn
to those deep awarenesses,
for,
as the old Shaker song reminds us,
When true simplicity is gained,
to bow and to bend
we will not be ashamed.
To turn, to turn,
will be our delight—
‘til by turning, turning,
we come round right.
(Hudson, IL)