in the company of strangers

...in the generosity of friends..

who is a stranger to us..?
~ simply an unearned friend ~
yes?

astonishing..the kindness of strangers..
astounding..the boundless big-heartedness of friends..
year after year..
they continue to offer noble friendship..
companionship..
knowing our foibles and faults
they offer a mirror
to polish our sacred-ness..
to dust off our human-ness..

strangers do that too..
hold up a looking-glass..
if we are fully alive to the moment..
yet
the dull dust of past and future settles
every nana - nano second..
bingo! out of the moment..

spurt, sputter, cough, choke..
the joke's on me..

shiver, shake, awake..
no longer host to the ghost
gone byes..yet to comes..

a smile,
a twinkle,
a gaze,
a phrase..
can break this spell..
i, me, mine
ah!

all are true companions..
stranger, friend, foe..  o woe!
indeedy ~
those petty tyrants
who scrape every scale of self- importance
off our crusty creature coeur..

lo! light-burst!
 see..
    hear..
         rest..
 alive in the this very

with no me to build a shrine.. a line to..
just the row, row, row
propelling this dreamjoy of existence..
in the company of strangers..
the fellowship of friends ~