Life Cycles

Swirling leaves of autumn,
death that follows birth,
Natraj’s ring of fire,
the spinning of our Earth;
frigid deep December gales,
the flowers of early June,
our seasonal trip around the sun,
the phases of the moon:
lives wrapped in cyclic ritual,
counting off our days,
trying to find meaning
in our karmic haze.

Given the shape of circles,
this conclusion’s not profound:
when you cut away the dogma,
what goes ‘round comes around.

Chronological Paradox

Conditioned by optimism,

we look on Time

as a forward progression.

“The march of time,”

“Here today, gone tomorrow,”

and other aphorisms

sprinkle our languages,

offering folksy wisdom

to guide our lives.

Yet as we age,

and friends, relatives, current events,

calamities, and catastrophes,

march inexorably into a past

that regresses at a logarithmic speed

away from our static present,

we are confronted daily

by Time’s ultimate paradox:

we sprinkle away our grains of time

frivolously, reflecting on yesterday,

fretting about tomorrow,

when all we need,

all that we are, and,
ultimately,
all we really have

is Now.