For the Beginner

Today is a good day to be reborn
It is a good day to run a new road
And give myself a younger, happier heart.
I have been many things in my life
But an old woman is not yet one of them.

I have danced on the bones of the earth.
The rhythm of my feet against her skin
Is the beating of my heart
Is the beating heart of the universe
Is the measure of time, beating steadily.

I am alive today
I am alive and not alone.
We are alive today
We are alive and we are in motion
We dance beneath the belly of the sky
We skim along the smile of the water's mouth.

Today is the birthday of being human
Merely and incredibly being
Only that and nothing less.
I am content, and also
Nothing will ever be enough.
I didn't come here to lead an ordinary life--
Existence is far too large for "ordinary"--
I came here to walk off the edge of the known
I came here to leap off the ledge of Impossibility
I came here to get hurt, and I came to heal.

I will falter and fail
I will rise from the ashes and then one day
Disappear.
There is beauty in staying
And there is beauty in going
And there is beauty in this
Perfect, painful, unrepeatable day.



KB 9/2015