slip-sliding away…..

Before the day begins,
take some time
to hear the chirping birds outside:
nature’s morning symphony,
played day after day,
in sickness and in health.

Before the week begins,
take time to appreciate
the luxury of free time,
which helped you unwind over days passed;
a necessary break
from the intensity
of a 5-day working week,
that doesn’t relent
from inflicting psychological tension
upon a weary mind
that would rather be relaxing –
enjoying stillness,
and reading,
and writing,
and being.

Before you open that Inbox,
or turn on that phone –
opening the floodgates
to the inevitable river of input
that will haunt your every hour,
drip by drip,
relentless arrivals,
at a time when you cannot simply run away
to the mountains or sea –
take time
to think of what you want to achieve this day…week…month,
not being enslaved by the incoming requests and demands,
but instead,
purposefully setting out a plan
to fill the daylight hours,
which promise to exhaust
your mental, physical, and psychological reserves,
until –
when bedtime calls –
you feel more than ready
to collapse
into a soft, undemanding paradise;
home to rest and nocturnal adventures,
played out by an escaping soul
who dwells not in this physical realm
once sleep overtakes you,
but instead,
wanders in a sphere unknown to the mind,
but well known to the heart.

Before the day begins…
take a little while
to just. be. free.