BREATHE

People and ideas sometimes have to be left
to the river and carried downstream.
Some we will see again, maybe.

In that river ink will flow on,
people will drink in ideas you thought
and create their own ideas—

and you will be connected with them
without ever seeing their faces
or hearing their voices.

What you did that others will not see
will stay hidden and quiet in you,
will be a piece of all your future prayers,

will maybe make you turn left
when you would have
otherwise turned right—

and you may never even fully realize it
until you are watching a replay of your entire life,
reaching for that great light—

like dreams that are potent just after you wake,
but find their quiet place in your memory—
guiding you silently without you even knowing it.

(July 24, 2008)