Cadence: Fits and Starts

Hanging on by my fingernails
But work is holding me up:
As long as I keep working
I keep going.

Lately I’ve been down in the mouth,
But resting in the dark
I remembered past meditations
That were wonderful.

I realized over the past few years
I’ve made some beautiful memories:
What’s happening now isn’t just about now,
It’s good or bad for later too.

Thus, if I pay attention to now
And attend to this moment,
I can make better tomorrows.
What do I want tomorrow to be like?

But then I sank into sadness again,
Thinking of the dark side of the past.
Just then, however, duty called
And work brought me up again.

My life’s raft
Is Pulled up and down
By the waves,
And they drag on for days.

To go up
One has to go down,
To go forward is
To rise and fall again.

I’m getting seasick now,
But I’ll get my sea legs yet,
And perhaps one day tell
Entertaining tales about
How arduous it all was.