"How To Make A Life"

String together the pearls of

A thousand mornings

Torn from a warm bed

To clean shower

Or comfort a friend

A thousand more spent

In leisure with warm blankets,

Books, and tea.

Line up the shells of many moments

Spent in prayer.

All that time

Speaking to heaven

And waiting in silence

For a gentle response.

Stack the essays

Passed through

Ink stained hands,

Each one

Worried over

With a creased

Brow and pen.

Bag up the hugs of friends

Wrapped round your waist --

And kisses from

Those loved best

And lost.

Amass the heartbeats

Felt on mountaintops

And beside the sea.

Bottle up your tears

Of joy and grief

From moments

Forgotten and remembered.

Tie up all the conversations

Treasured and discarded.

Spare a glimpse for those

Remembered, yet

Remember the past

Only as it gives you pleasure.

Bind all these parts with one

Quick stir and

Stand back to admire

All the life you've

Loved, spent, and gained:

A masterpiece forged by time

Not fire.