Light and shadow
Pause:
The gentle reeds in the urban breeze
Dance for no one in particular
But greet all equally
Including those who cannot but despise
Everyone and everything but their own.
Likewise,
The lulling leaves in the ebbing sun
Shimmer for no one in particular
But play for all eerily
With the blended light and shadow
Of our hasty hopes and apprehensions.
And so,
When would-be strangers of yore
May presently deny each other with indifference,
How could we then be surprised
That our self-obsessed loneliness
Burn and seethe in the country hills and plains?
Nonetheless,
As the wasteland seems to spread
To the four corners of our heart,
We may still heed the boundless beauty
That has embraced each of us every single day
Of our shared, transient humanity.