To Be Present

On the 24th of December
I’m not going to say,
Merry Christmas,
or tell you what to
believe, or what to think
or feel…
I’m just going to say,
no matter what,
to BE in the world,
to stand in forests thick
with tree-scented air
to swim in oceans
shimmering with crisp salty water
to stand beneath skies
of endless sparkling stars
to love deeply and often
and with wild abandon,
not just people,
but creatures and plants
and rocks and water and earth,
to notice everything
to feel, everything
that comes, fleetingly
or enduringly…
to be safe, but
to take chances,
on yourself
on others, on the
blue planet we live upon,
floating, spinning, rotating
in endless black space,
a miracle, all of us
everything, no matter what
to be present, to be here
xxx

Helen Edwards