two squirrels
I watched two squirrels running around
today — one was chasing the other,
maybe they were fighting over a nut…
looked like they were having fun
this was early in the morning,
before I was set to start the grind —
the sun had just come up
and it was a little bit cool
but you could feel spring’s promise
in that coolness
and I felt a pang of sadness
you see, the thing about
having so much to do,
so many things going on —
so many obligations
and responsibilities —
is that you miss the little
moments around you,
the events of nature, the quiet
little miracles of survival…
while you’re trying to get by
in your own big, loud world
there’s so much simple beauty
transpiring all around you
in the spaces overlooked —
our screens and machines
have won the competition
for our attention…
very little feels real anymore,
and all that’s left in us
is this nagging sense of
absence
Franco Amati 2024
