Life is struggle;
it is pain and sweat.
Life is hunger and thirst;
it is frustration and failing.
Life is running out of time
and life is too short.
Never enough.
Life is tears and heartache,
anger, fear, and despair.
Life is strife;
it is misunderstanding, offense, hurt, and rift.
Life is sorrow and loneliness;
It is aching bones.
Life is mourning.
and …
Life is hope;
it is the sun rising.
Life is a newborn baby.
It is a green shoot breaking the soil.
Life is rest and a pleasant breeze.
It is a slow, deep breath and a private smile.
Life is the promise a crocus makes in the snow.
It is raucous children running a sprinkler’s gauntlet in July.
It is the smell of smoke from autumn leaves and the hush of midnight snow.
Life is anticipation and expectation.
It is the morning sound of birds and the song of pond frogs on a warm night.
Life is a ticking clock.
It is a spark and a fire and glowing coals.
And when the last ember has lost its light,
Life is a door.
On the other side is something new.
A place, we learn, that what we have called life,
is but a shadow.
First Posted July 24, 2024
