Joy Chose You

Joy does not arrive with a fanfare

on a red carpet strewn

with the flowers of a perfect life.

Joy sneaks in

as you pour a cup of coffee

watching the sun

hit your favourite tree

just right.

and you usher joy away

because you are not ready for her

your house is not as it should be

for such a distinguished guest

but joy, you see

cares nothing for your messy home

or you bank balance

or your waistline

joy is supposed to slither through

the cracks of your imperfect life 

that's how joy works

you cannot truly invite her

you can only be ready

when she appears

and hug her with meaning

because in the very moment

joy chose you.......

 When Death Comes

When death comes

like a hungry bear in autumn

when death comes

like the measle pox

when death comes

like an iceberg between the shoulder blades

I want to step through the door

full of curiousity, wondering:

what is it going to be like?

that cottage of darkness?

And therefore, I look upon everything

as a brotherhood and a sisterhood

and I look upon time as no more than an idea.

and consider eternity as another possibility.

And think of each flower, as common

as a daisy field and as singular

and each name a comfortable music in the mouth

tending, as all music does, toward silence

and each body a lion of courage

and something precious to the earth.

When its over, I want to say, all my life

I was a bride married to amazement

I was a bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.

When it is over, I don't want to wonder 

if I have made my life something particular and real

I don't want to find myself sighing and frightened

or full of argument.

I don't want to end of simply having visited this world.

Mary Oliver