awareness

today i saw a van come to a screeching halt
and milky smoke puffed through it's gills like a dragon,
as it stopped within near inches of a handicapped woman crossing the street on a scooter.
and i realized how fragile and interwoven life and time is.

yesterday i saw my daughter beaming with joy and proudly showing that her ears were pierced
as she modeled her newest fashion of "pink ice" earrings.
and with an equal joy and pang in my heart,
i see her growing older another day.

and the day before yesterday i finished a story
about a civilized nation caught in a wave of an epidemic of blindness,
this nation being pummeled and stripped to the very basic needs of life.
and they sat and wept as they drank from the finest crytal,
the very blood of life...precious water.
and i realized how blessed i am.