40

It was my birthday today. Here's a few words to commemorate the occasion:

40

How have I arrived here?
My body is like a map.
In the lines and crevices are
places I have been,
people I have loved.
Arms open wide, pulled from east to west.
Heart stretched just as wide.
I think sometimes it may burst.
I reside someplace in between
nowhere and somewhere.
But these flat plains drop into canyons
and foothills grow into mountains.
And more lines and crevices will be added
to this already full map.
I can trace them but at some point they will bleed into each other
becoming one long line,
one long road.

The Corridor

I had a vision oneday. I was waiting in a corridor. It was a sort of waiting room. Off of this narrow hallway were 2 rooms. One was behind me,which was a room I had just left. One I could perhaps visit but never go back to. Another was in front of me. This room had beds in it, with the elderly and sick. And I was in this waiting room. Which is the time of life I am now in. I have left this room of Youth but have not yet entered this room of Elderly. And so here I wait. It is a strange time of life. Neither one nor the other. And these are my hopes: 1) I will never forget youth and all that it has taught me 2) that this corridor is longer and wider and deeper than it looked in my vision 3) That it is a beautiful space, with lots of artistic pictures on the wall, and interesting people to meet - a place of joy 4) by the time I enter the next room that I will have the grace and the peace to do so.