Take a comfortable seat and a few deep breaths. Tune in for a moment to the coming and going of the air, the sensations in your body. Hold onto something that feels safe or connected to goodness, something that reminds you of who you really are. Sense for a moment how the truest and most wonderful parts of yourself have built themselves over time in small moments and big ones. See if you can feel in your body a particular space where the history of your best self is alive in this moment. Breathe here. Allow the rest of your body to calm and still around this "most true" place. Imagine music playing here. Imagine those who have loved you surrounding you in this centering place. Even further beyond, images flash by of your future, past, and present, jumbled into a kaleidoscope mirroring back the best of you. Relax and calm the body. Find your center here. Slow down. Notice. Abide. Breathe. Invite yourself home. Going Down There are so many ways to be
on a sinking ship
one man rips through the drywall
hunting for the $10,000 he stashed
long ago
a girl, good and kind, helps by
shuttling equipment through the
kitchen to safety
no where to put it, she hustles
in circles
the captain, shaking her head,
lights a pipe
makes peace with the vessel she loved
a panic of mice
a scurrying of blowhard seamen
hastily patching too-late spackle on
holes where the water floods in
a couple plays shuffleboard up above
laughing loudly to drown out the dread
a woman plays violin
Vivaldi, sweet and slow
she knows that the boat’s epic sinking
will take exactly the length of
her life