Alchemic Verse

I sailed across a sea of sunlit green today, crossing rivers I’d never seen prior, seeing new states and license plates. Tonight’s landing is the perfect blend of the first and the second spots. It’s close enough to civilization that I can Grubhub myself a proper dinner to break up the convenience store bites (often scarfed in the parking lot for sheer requirement of energy and lack of time) while also remote enough to be surrounded by lush trees, to be draped in a cacophanous blanket of cicada song, to catch and free fireflies gently with my hands, and to spot the moon waxing on its early rise.

This property is shared, a chicken coop with a curious rooster peering with suspicious curiosity at my dog and I between bites of some ground food he’s sharing with a squirrel nearby. The neighbor is friendly; they asked where I’m from and where I’m going. I should probably coin some short explanation to replace the ‘uh… well…’ of it all.

I chose to have a wonderful day by choosing to appreciate every moment of it – singing raptly with each really good song on the shuffle, taking mental photographs of how cute the pup looked drinking water as I hold her bowl into the backseat, smiling into the sky at the escort of birds and sentinels of clouds that guided my journey, relishing in a hot shower with excellent water pressure/laundry and clean clothing… choosing to treat myself to a favorite dinner, some self-care and pampering.

Today being the 4th, and particularly given my present location, fireworks and gunfire fill the darkening surround, a show of spirit and celebration amidst the grand dread of current events, a similar sort of choosing to appreciate magic despite it all. While I sit and marvel, the air has cooled and I am an island, sat crosslegged on the borders of several groups of families and friends, their distant hoots and laughter, the call and response of soaring whistles and rapid rhythm, punctuated by thunderous bass booms of the odd mortar that pass through sternum and spine.

I could feel lonely, I could be dreading the work of the next leg of this journey. Instead, I choose to feel at home in myself and to cuddle my dog who, while spooked by most things, is not spooked by gunfire or fireworks and thus is snoring evenly through the bombastic din. As tomorrow’s sailing will be there tomorrow, tonight I choose to have a peaceful night.