Life Explodes

Scattered thoughts drop, skittering ‘round my fevered brain
Uncertain, eager, undecided, driven, unknown, alone
So many paths, all taken more than once, divided and diverted
I seem only able understand that I do not understand

Scattered nature, random, happenstance, unrealized patterns
Rain falling, misting, sprinkling, driving, no cause but gravity
Engenders life in barren places, sidewalk cracks and rocky knolls
Swells rivers, floods plains, drowns cities, leaving silted fertile land

Scattered surf forever crashes into, onto adamantine stone
Shattering nature’s obdurate foundations into drifting sand
While life’s hidden bounty swims beneath the frothy tides
Till tremors trigger tsunamis before which nothing stands

Scattered smoke from hearths, to homes, to raging forests
May bring warmth to cuddle close or charred earth and lives
Survival fosters desolation hope and conditions for growth
Charred remains hold both destruction and bitter-sweet promise

Scattered fallen leaves sing autumn’s soft, inevitable decline
Life slows as cold nips us to the bone and blinds our eyes
We wonder how amidst such beauty our world can simply die
Though we’ve know the steps of this dance since our birth

Scattered winter snows, flirts with the wind, our vision
Or gently falls and falls and falls until it has blanketed all
Yet as nature lies dormant, distant in refreshing slumber
In pristine ground awaits a ready canvas to recreate our lives

Scattered spring clouds, fluffy, dark, windblown, presage life
Early showers which bring forth flowers give color to our hope
Bright green shoots claw up, break ground as seeds give birth
Every horizon paints green rainbow visions before our eyes

Scattered children’s laughter decorates warm summer seashores
Plants reach undaunted to the sun, live-giving cosmic radiation
Bees bounce from blossom to blossom bestowing pollen’s bounty
Blossoms transform to nourishment, decaying into nourishment

Scattered hope, property, life, futures confront the specter of fear
All swept away by fire, flood, earthquake, famine and disaster
All lead to natural and necessary growth and change through pain
This endless cycle that we both court and fear, yet cannot escape

Scattered sand and fire brings forth glass, beautiful and practical
Shattered stones build our shelters, pave and smooth our roads
Sawdust, woodchips, splinters when we fell the tree or mill the board
Charred earth, churned earth to plant the seed, clear water to grow

Scattered metaphors, similes, analysis, comparisons, pale shadows
Yet lead backward to where we have often been before, will be again
Whether life feels rich with promise or scourged and scoured bare
With change the only constant we must seek hope and joy and love

Scattered thoughts drop on my fevered brain to cook, combine
Some are quickly seared and ready for consumption, presentation
Some simmer endless hours, half forgotten with an occasional stir
Whether delicate, robust, haute cuisine or hardy fare, all may nourish