Eye of the Storm - Aug 21 2023

 

Eye of the Storm

Aug 21 2023

An unnatural calm

in the eye of the storm.

But hurricanes are unstoppable,

and the wall of wind

is closing in.

Why do I feel this way

on a pleasant day

of light rain

and mild temperatures?

Because no one is spared

and nowhere is safe

even if trouble takes its time.

And whatever comfort it provides,

any conceit

of refuge from a turbulent world

is false.

Because life is zero sum?

That just as no good deed

goes unpunished

good fortune exacts its price?

Or because I am a pessimist

who tends to catastrophize

and can't help but see it coming?

In a calm like this

the stillness is unsettling.

The birds have gone quiet

and the sky has an ominous caste.

The air feels electric,

on the edge of releasing its charge.

There can be no peace

in this calm;

just an anxious waiting

and the mind on high alert.

The dogs are restless

and a faint breeze stirs.

All the news these days is bad weather and the natural disasters it's causing. Or rather unnatural: because – in this self-inflicted Anthropocene age – so much of it is man-made.

But here, it’s been beautiful: mild weather, the right amount of rain. One could easily believe we inhabit a blessed refuge. But there is no refugium from the world. We will not be spared.