HERE’S TO MUD IN YOUR EYES

May we exist in muddy water

with purity like the lotus.

In muddy waters I keep afloat

with a Navy Seal eggbeater kick.

My mind is always packed

with the debris of old wounds,

dark clouds of judgments,

and toxic resentments.

I keep thinking of my old friend

being diapered. A professor

of classics who can no longer

utter a word.

As I face the ultimate disease of old age,

I worry about how I will fall apart.

Buddha called my mental chatter,

upside –down thinking.

I focus on the here and now

by following my breath—

muddy waters settle down,

and I rise to the surface

like a blooming lotus flower.

I discover that moments speak—

I just have to listen.

Milton