Be Here Now
A poem by Cat Mansfield
Come on a walk with me
Go on, open your eyes
Look at how much there is to see
The same city streets I frantically pounded to catch the bus
Back and forth for miles as if mechanically programmed to
Anticipate what has already been written for us
On the same rain soaked sidewalks I drudged for miles
Always in a rush to avoid any new trials
I find myself waiting on the future
Only to relive the same heartbreak, the same pain, the same fear
Like a gash with no suture
Now, I finally see the neighborhood within these streets
Sunday evenings spent on front porches
While children bargain for tomorrow’s sweet treats
Gardens fraught with flowers outstretched towards the sky
Titillated by the arrival of Mother Nature’s next cry
Cracks in the sidewalk
From childhoods full of jump rope and hop scotch
Oh the life that is right there unfolding if you are just willing to watch
Look down to see consciousness captured in chalk by a child
On this canvas their creativity and fantasies compiled
Intersections where I once had no time to wait
Are now the divine coordinations of destiny’s date
A red palm from across the street stopping me in my stride
Once imbued with negativity, victimhood, and defeat
Now is a chance to pause, breathe, and remember to reside
In my body that is walking this magnificent Earth to my own created beat
I veer right
Gliding on the curtails of the formidable wind
A deep breath of cool air, for only a moment - cleansing all I have sinned
I dance amongst the same invisible jungle gym
The trees, the birds, and our dreams frolic within
This current that breathes life on land
I once blamed for the destruction of all I had planned
Now how clearly I see the changing tides of my biography
Are a part of the composition of divine choreography
Listening to the constant communication above the wires
Between chirps and tweets, I can finally hear my own desires
An orchestra performing a symphony of nature’s composition
The anthem of freedom and unabating, divine permission
Finally a suspension from the constant city static
Like a transformative trip transcending the somatic
The futile fears that once had me feel so small
Find freedom from the confines of this concrete concert hall
All this time, a heedless hostage of my hard drive
Now attentively tuned into the music of being alive
Come on a walk with me
Take in all there is to see
The compilation of moments that is the mundane majesty of this life
Gives me peace and perspective on the agony and spiritual strife
One thing of life is certain- when the next hardship ensues
How wonderful it is to be able to choose
A trust in the ‘some how’
A return to be Here Now