DIE

it is wet and foggy and thick with autumn this morning..
after sitting, breathing, and stretching the bones -
i hop on my new olde bike.. a schwinn super 7 cruiser..
blue with silver fenders.. a basket.. a bell ..
and pedal to the padilla bay trail along the water..

barely able to see the road ahead..
the path ahead..
i can make out the silhouettes of great blue herons..
on posts, on the newly ploughed fields, near the water's edge..
ducks leaving their trace on the rille, lazy lolling..
before hunting season brings them to their knees..
(that eternal question..do ducks have knees?)
a ring-tail hawk just off the branch
to follow and lead and tease me along my way -
before flying to more lucrative stores..and shores..
the flitter and titter and winged-woosh of wee birdlets..
a kingfisher rat-ta-tatting.. announces my arrival..
to the bunnies with their tails like spotlights..
they are skittery and full of delight ..fearful and popping..
i see shimmer..the white of a white of a translucent egret
finding her flight under the damp dew that holds her heavy..
where did she come from?
a rarity .. a find.. a blessing.. a treasure...

then...
 i see the letters in the path..
strong bold letters with an arrow of equal stock
pointing in the direction i am heading..
                          DIE
ring! ring! i ring the bell
and continue on my way..
to my death..it would seem ~

and....
although i hold death in high regard..
as the moment when real awakening arrives..
the next great adventure..
the chasm of faith, the threshold, the door to eternity ~
a favor to us..the remembrance of all things impermanent ..
the midwife who travels with us from beginning to end..
to the end that is no end..
that outbreath from our o so short inhale of a life...

i simply cannot not leave those letters there..
hanging out to dry
on this sunday morning
of such richness ~ such poignancy ~ such moist and lush aliveness ~

as i circle back..i knew to do what i brewed to do..
adding the M ..
and above that CARPE ..
and above that - as an arrow of its own species - a heart..

                                      CARPE
                                       DIEM!

yes.. any day, this day, all days are good days to die ~
                                  seize the day!


die while you're alive
and be absolutely dead.
then do whatever you want;
it's all good.    
              ~ bunan
                  1603-1676
( imagine..that expression..
it's all good..took this long to arrive!)

one instant is eternity;
eternity is the now.
when you see through this one instant,
you see through the one who sees.
                       ~ wu-men

between living and dreaming
there is a third thing.
guess it.
                ~ antonio machado

may living and dying be the same for you!
carpe diem..!