Fellow Travelers

There is more than one world.  Turn your attention now,

away from the one that is always trying to sell you something,

for time is short and you have work to do.

Befriend yourself, settle into a homecoming,

apprentice yourself to the dear friend of your own curiosity,

to a sense of belonging, a familiarity not dependent

on external circumstance, not interested

in outward manifestation.

Flash a smile and a sparkling eye

at every stranger you meet upon the road,

and your heart’s voice shall become so clear

resisting the call to drink from it will become an impossibility,

easing your thirst with refreshment from your own well,

with plenty to spare for all fellow travelers.

Work all the morning alongside your comrades

from every country, prophets from every land.

Walk all the afternoon among hills that rise and fall.

Rest all the evening, recite the same verse three times

for health and good fortune.

Wake the next morning, take a vow

of kindness, begin again.