A not so spry older man had a dream last night
In it, he was sitting alone in a park on
an unseasonably warm winter day
Spring was six weeks away so there were
no robins yet, just pesky little brown and gray
sparrows intent on eating as much as they could
An older man ambled by and asked if
he might share a seat on the bench as a large
black crow began squawking overhead
The gentleman’s name was Cyrus…
a bit of a throwback name but since it
was clear that both of us were in our eighth
decade of life, it wasn’t that peculiar at all
He chuckled when learning that I preferred
to be called Cowboy instead of my
given name of Morris
Cyrus asked if there were any life lessons
I’d learned along the way and I hesitated
for a long time before replying
‘I’ve learned that life will knock you down
but turn around and offer a second chance
to square the score if you can pick yourself
up and say yes to life
I’ve learned that some people will always
see the cup as half empty as if they thrive
on the poor, poor, pitiful you look and words
that acquaintances throw their way. It took a long
time to realize that they were stuck like an old pickup
truck in a ditch in Leoti, Kansas…and that I didn’t
have a chain strong enough to extricate them
from their misery
For the longest time, I put my hopes in a dream
that never came to fruition and it was…for far too
long, as if someone had hit me upside the head
with a sledgehammer
But as I came to my senses, a second chance was
dumped in my lap and a natural curiosity began to
grow that maybe Someone was looking out for
this weary and often bumbling traveler
I eventually learned that if one slows down
occasionally…and if they breath deeply enough…
and slowly enough, that a sense of all is well- this too
will pass- I am with you always surety is not just present
but all encompassing
And all along I’d thought that it was a me game
of creating this or that…riding high in the good times
and shaking an angry fist to the heavens when
things didn’t work out according to my plan
He showed this often ungrateful mess that
there is…for everyone, a grander plan
fashioned by One who knows us most intimately…
Who sees beyond the faults, the foibles, and the
follies to an end game so much higher than
the me and mine absorption that surely is
a ditch of its own
Cyrus had a dinner date and we shook hands
as he got ready to leave
‘Seems like you’ve learned a lot young man and
here’s hoping you don’t keep it to yourself…
for that would truly be a disservice to the
Creator of second chances.’
What You’re Saying