“Time is not linear but a deck of cards that is continuously shuffled.” -Paul Tremblay (The Pallbearers Club).

After those long nights 

have been stored for another day

and relegated to the back of the closet,

there’s nothing to fear, 

save that the moon is turning away

and the night will be at its darkest.

But the moon will rise again

and musical laughter will lure you 

into play, for as sure as the tides rise and fall

as sure as there is life on earth,

you will rise again. And I will ride too

upon the light that shines through it all. 

And we will laugh and how,

for hospitals teach you patience

and empathy, while super-markets 

teach you to be rushed; learn then, 

to keep that balance  

of both the Master and the Fool.

Time is fickle, time will not wait

forever changing, the deck of cards,

shuffled, re-shuffled changing hands

as you are dealt with a knave, an ace,

did you ever get a full house, a three 

of spades? What fun, all cards are one. 

Time is the shifting sand on the shore,

the breakers caressing your feet 

or shattering to send you tumbling

away into the sand, on your hands and knees

with a mouthful of salt, sand slithering, 

the same sand we make castles with. 

After these worlds have been folded away 

and locked in the library that houses 

your thoughts, there’s nothing to fear:

you have yourself. You need no one else,

to take you through that board game called “life”

that spirited game we have to play, every day. 

For nothing that ends is an ending. 

It is just a beginning waiting to end 

for all beginnings have to stop somewhere,

if you’re lucky, on route, you’ll find a friend. 

I searched for answers but never found them, 

only an odd benign refrain , “begin again”.