FULCRUM

Every place you look

becomes a center.

Then the rest of the universe

becomes its background.

A fulcrum, a still point

“around which vital powers

are exercised.”

A see-saw moment when everything

might change.

One child goes down

as another comes up.

One country disappears

and another rises

as if from an ocean floor.

This rhythm, this movement

surrounds us -

voices low and slow

harmonizing with higher

notes and rapid beats.

The never-ending decision points

around which we exercise vital powers::

What’s for breakfast?

How to find happiness

in a flawed self and world?

The fulcrum then becomes

a vantage point.

Each moment we are

standing on a hill.

Looking down to

life in the valley,

looking up to

the sun with the

universe arranged around it.

A center is lovely

but a fulcrum is better

because it allows

everything to move.

It’s a dance

the melody with infinite accompaniments.

It’s a touch

with its stillness —

we are free.

DL - 11/14/2024