Sunrise Salute

What if, when I wake up,
I’m in this body for the very first time:
life is new as light
for a baby at birth.

The memory threads of this body’s story
are woven, tangled, gnarled.
And now I’m tethered, like roots to a tree,
to every spent leaf and past-colored blossom.

But my ego, my sense of who I am,
each morning on waking feels:
“This is the first time I’ve lived in this body.”

Who knows?
I like to suppose it is so.
When I do then I don’t
feel weighed down and blue
by this body’s muddled-up past.

Instead, I think,
“Okay.
What’ve we got this time?”

My latest expression, that’s what we’ve got.

“Right.
Well, better get to know this guy.”
Got some good stuff; a gift.
Some bad stuff; a curse.

So, let’s weed the garden and nourish the tree;
rake up those dead leaves and ripen the fruit.

Unfurl the boon of my latest Sequoia,
seeking the sky
for another chance
to finally grasp
the freedom of flight
and never look back again.

That is the soul I want to wake up as—
with focus this simple and pure:
“Okay.
What’ve we got today?”

 ~ John