How to Participate in Your Life

A poem

Photo by Alexander Popov on Unsplash

On the mornings
I have nothing to say
may the sounds of
early traffic speak for me —
the bleary-eyed commuter
unknowingly participating
in the miracle of transport,
even if she hates her job,
might her will to wake up
today serve as my proxy.

When we rise with no words
like damp coals in our bellies
and the song of our spirits
has vanished in the night —
the newborn wails next door,
birds unfasten from the trees,
the world speaks for us and
we see how simple it was
to participate, even if only
with our quiet blood
and our tired thoughts.