The Barren Ones

A week after love
the balance between
preparation and inspiration
remains folded in 
all possible outcomes.

The parade of elephants
may perhaps begin today
but it is sure to come with
one yelling from the balcony
about the unfairness of time.

We do not begin each year
of life deciding how many
more years to go before
pushing the covers aside
and getting on with the day.

Will we survive this moment?
Will the mountains built
to house our sweet dreams
come down with the next
shake of the earth?

We must ask the barren ones
to sing, to enlarge the places
of our hearts, to lengthen 
the ties that bind and to 
strengthen what holds us together.