looking out

i can see forever from here

there are gray hairs and wrinkles waiting
(a few have made their way to me already)
lots of salonpas patches, probably a cane,
maybe dentures,

i might have a tight perm like my grandma did
squint through thick glasses and a persistent cough,
i’ll smile at the little babies who are
no longer so little, sip on a nice whiskey
once in a while,

i don’t know whether there’ll be
any snow on the Sierras, whether there’ll
still be thick smog over Los Angeles,
how many new islands Hawai’i might have,
how many the Maldives might lose,
whether the Mekong through Cambodia will be dry,

but i know for certain
that there’ll be love
of some kind

there is always love

there will be people trying hard
to take care of one another
as people always have
and always will

and i hope that i will
be better at that

even when my muscles are weaker
and my bones more fragile
even as my nails become brittle
and my hearing fades
i know that my heart will have had
so many great teachers
that it is not possible
for my soul not to grow

that’s what i see
when i look toward forever
and there is no fear