I awake from a dark and frightening dream

Then remember we have a nightmare that’s real

That things are just as bad as they seem

Which helps explain the anxiety I feel

 

When morning first opens, engages my mind

Any terror I saw while I slumbered

Links to other black thoughts, and that’s when I find

Familiar bleak stories with which my mind’s encumbered

 

Negative notions from ago, but still with me now

Though I try to forget trouble no longer in sight

Still, that angst persists, supersedes good thoughts somehow

Credit my lizard’s brain always seeking reason for fight or for flight

 

Meditation can help, as can walks with our dog

With white clouds to admire, a partner to adore

And the most positive way to pull my mind from the bog

Is to remember people I loved, who walk among us no more

 

What happened to Sam and to Richard, to Mother and Dad

All much younger than I am now, when they departed?

The unfulfilled yearnings and hopes that they had

The missions they dreamed of but never started?

 

In leaving they taught me the key thing to know

To manage my mind so comfort and joy can arrive

Let my consciousness expand so understanding can grow

Remember to breath, to affirm awareness that I’m still alive

 

Yes, I abhor this place, standing forever in line

Or have to do other things I particularly hate

But I can inventory the working parts of the body still mine

Though quite a few have passed their “should use by” date

 

And this: In the days that remain before I’m ashes and dust

Feel gratitude for having what’s uniquely mine to give

Follow this plan for a peace I always can trust:

Try to be of service to others for as long as I live.