Diana Darby ** "I V" ** Intravenous

Steady On

Everything is collapsing.
The housing market.
The stock market.
Everything.
I keep telling myself not to worry,
that it all could be worse.
That I could be living in a hut
eating fried mud,
and running for my life.
Or be homeless from one of the past hurricanes.
I have food
and a roof over my head
and a car.
This morning I ate a peanut butter
and jelly sandwich
and mopped my floors
and scrubbed my tub.
I sat down in my chair and stared at the tiny maple tree
outside my door.
Nature doesn’t know
that the American economy
(and most of the rest of the world’s)
is in the toilet.
Nature doesn’t care.
The trees are still the same.
The squirrels are still busy preparing for winter.
There is a peace and constancy
to what is outside
that is very comforting to remember.
Winter, Spring, Fall, and Summer
all will come and go again.
And the trees and flowers will respond in kind.
I will try to remember this
and be like my little maple,
steady and calm
unafraid to face
what will come
trusting that even when things look their most bare,
all is not lost.