A Paper Ring

The frailty of 

the examined

life is a sure 
and routine thing.

Slipping in and

out of its delicate 
wandering weave,

we are learning

to make and wear

a paper ring –

a sometime thing.

The filigree and

wispy edges betray

the passing nature

of this temporary

adornment of sorts;

an idea more

at home with

wishful thinking –

familiar again and

again and again

with the lacquer of

longing notions and

ambivalent aspirations.

Never quite solid enough

to be sure and 
never quite sturdy

enough to last.

Pretty while it

lasts; it is only here

long enough to peak

our sense of

watchfulness

and attention

to its tending and
hermetic protection.

One movement this

way could tear it. One

movement that way

could fold it in two.

Then what do

you have left, but

a forgotten perfection

of detail and degree.

It takes a lifetime

to learn to shelter

so small and weak

a thing as joy;

it takes a gale of

focus to keep that

thing safe against

all chaos and dis-ease.

Draw in every fiber

of your intent; bring

together every strand

of your desire and

mark out the boundaries

all around the stuff

that you need to keep

awe and beauty, wonder

and amazement just at

the tips of your fingers –

hidden in the moisture

of your every breath.

Without such food,

the soul is left abraded

by the elements of daily

grind - the warp and

weft unraveled against

a panoply of undoing

and confusion.

It takes all we have

to make a sometime

thing last against

all odds.

image from: www.happyfolding.com