Discovery

Eighty-one years from first breath

from first stirring of consciousness

another homo sapiens on this

fragile earth

dancing about its illustrious star.

 

Thrust into the chaos

blinding and inescapable

turmoil of human imperfection

into the horrific and deadly

human world burdened by

myopic vision

unsettling and inescapable dread

world at war

tens of millions slaughtered

for no good or sustainable reason.

 

The juggernaut of civilization

ten thousand year journey through time

little evidence of progress

peace and harmony ever elusive

urge towards darkness

pervasive and real.

 

Eighty-one years from first breath

through the many-faceted

stages of living

of growing

of learning

of joy and of pain

of love and despair

of ecstasy and sorrow

of elation and grief,

through times of enlightenment

through times of depression

caring for others,

caring for self.

 

Eighty-one years

a mere speck within the

vastness of time and space,

a miniscule and impermanent addition

to the magnificent arc of the cosmos

to the expansive universe.

 

Eighty-one years

a singular story

among a human family

over eight billion members

moving through the lifetime that is

decidedly my own.

 

I take full ownership of all of it

every detail

every miniscule aspect

every choice ever made

whether foolish or insightful

whether insignificant or life-changing

whether extravagant or mundane.

 

If there is a purpose

to this sojourn

in its incessant and relentless

path to discovery.

 

Eighty-one years from first breath

a quest to uncover

that indefinable

fundamental

indelible

remarkable

essence

of self

that fabric and construction

that is me.