Westlondoncore (2022)

westlondoncore (2022)

Three petaled sisters

grinning along the sidewalk

God winking at me

Haiku ©️HJ Cross

My iPhone photo

An eryngium which is starting to color up

This Gift

Notty Bumbo, 2023

I have stood in the face of infernos,

rescued oil-soaked sea birds

from the absurdity of our greed.

I’ve journeyed a lifetime

with feet locked in iron boots

across ragged and ravaged nations.

I’ve been drowned in information,

largely worth less than yesterday,

at a cost triple that of tomorrow.

I have seen, with burning eyes,

the chasms we’ve erected

to block our way.

What has it meant,

who assumes to answer such painful questions?

Like all before or since, I am a construct,

poured into my mold early,

the dubious sculpting of my outer surfaces

of questionable provenance.

I must as all must answer to this life

whether I’ve reached far enough

to find wisdom, or not. To value or ignore.

Am I worthy of the quantum I occupy,

on my brief sojourn around time?

The Universe likes to call our bluff,

curve balls just to the side of the plate.

Swing, and our chances increase.

Remain motionless —

the future leaves us behind.

I no longer feel fear of fire,

water, Earth, air, our fractional arc of life.

I fear only missing the beginning,

with so many rushing to their end.

To fall asleep just before sunrise.

How we come to be these luminous beings

is not of critical concern;

it is what we do with this gift

that proves our mettle

against the dark of eternity.