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come, i invite you to look at this flower
and think of Jesus.

in this respect, Mother Nature
is God;

She uses Her resources---
the rain, the sun, the soil, the seed,

to plant and grow this flower.

when the flower is at its most beautiful,
it is cut from the lower part of its stem

at which point it then begins to die.
at the eyes of the beholder,

one feels joy, happiness, peace, friendship,
compassion, sorrow, love---all the more,

until the last of the flower's petals falls
into the Paradise from which it came.

:::

the arm of reflective red and white tap
mechanically drops in front of the car.

ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding.

red lights pulse in formation.

my hands slam on the rubber steering wheel.

old, rusty, graffiti-slewn cars tread
in a syncopated motion on the tracks---

bending metal under their chained feet.

as they travel a slow drum into oblivion,
i am overcome with gratitude;

I made you stop,
so all of this may pass.

:::

the journey with a friend

is many in one.

travel those roads

with the pendulum of time;

walk by day,

rest by night.

patience within a friendship

ripens the fruit you share together.

:::

the human heart beats
twenty-four hours a day seven days a week.

the human heart is only capable of feeling,
so it does not think for that is the job of the mind.

we as humans have lived experiences
and the perceptions of those lived experiences.

the human heart experiences the emotional consequences
of all of those lived experiences and perceptions.

whether the lived experiences and perceptions
are pleasant or distressing,

the heart beats within each of us---for us,
twenty-four hours a day seven days a week;

our single heart beats despite the lived experiences
and perceptions of those lived experiences.

therefore, each of our hearts beat for us
irregardless of who we are, what we have endured,
where we come from, thoughts we have had,
and what we appear as on the outside.

all our hearts can feel
are the consequences of our lives.

thus, if our heart works for us
despite all that could make it beat differently,
it continues to beat until our dying day.

if our heart works unconditionally for us,
why do we insist on making it feel
unnecessary, negative consequences?

must we be so unfair to our heart?

most importantly,
why must we make others' hearts feel negative consequences
inside their lived experiences and perceptions?

being kind to your heart
and to the hearts of others

is redeeming just one of a continuity of favors.

a continuity that continues
twenty-four hours seven days a week.