The gray skies beckon with their unseen, unacknowledged beauty.
I can answer their call during this period of calm.
Memories go by and some stop and visit for a while.
The variegated gray reminds me of things long lost,
Replaced by new treasures and moments.
It is a bittersweet beauty—that cloudy sky so full of threat, of promise.
Who knows whether it will be a refreshing shower or a torrential downpour?
Remembrances of both crowd in for just a moment.
I breathe a deep sigh… and let them all go.
Now has its own beauty; the future its own promise; the past is simply experience.
Some of it built character. Some of it revealed flaws.
All of it has been swept away by new clouds, new rains, new sunny days even…
I cannot regret any of the past because it cannot be changed, only remembered.
The reminiscences are pleasant, though the memories aren’t always.
I know today is a second chance—a new beginning with a clean slate.
I can write whatever I wish and make whatever choices need making
With some degree of confidence.
I have been soaked in sorrows, harassed by hardships, and
Buoyed by joys in this river, often flooded by new rainfall.
Still, the clouds beckon me.
Part of me loves their multihued gray-whites far more
Than clear, blue sunny skies with white puffs.
It is difficult to accept that I should experience happiness,
Because I am so much more familiar with crisis.
I am still learning to go with the new flow.
I went round a life-changing bend awhile back and I’m still reeling.
So the miles flow by and I wonder…
I don’t wonder too hard though. Whatever comes, I can deal with
Since my riverboat Captain is steering my vessel for me
Through all the weather and waterway changes.