slice...

we all travel in our own little cars
each only wide enough to negotiate a single moment
and in that moment every being is steering for their life
like blades of grass in concert that negotiate a heavy wind
like birds pecking seeds in syncopation beneath my tree
like a penned cow, bound for slaughter, who decides
“in this moment I am going to jump that fence”
and so begins a journey that transcends the plate
in a moment a dog decides to crawl across three lanes
of heavy moving traffic to drag another dog to safety
in a moment a man runs into a burning building
because in his tiny slim car he believes he can pull
someone else out of a really bad moment in theirs
in a moment an old woman swinging a handbag runs
towards 6 boys and men because she believes
she can stop them from making the mistake
of a lifetime of moments, and so indeed she does
and in our slim and momentary cars we can choose
happiness, love, gratitude and bravery over a host
of other things because each little moment we negotiate
is in fact a new beginning and it is singularly ours
so here and here and here we string moments out like beads
and here and here and here and on and on and on, I wish you joy...

lucy meskill