climate: change

climate: change

in the early days of language
we only had words for storms
weather meant trouble until
some began to realize that
a clear sky or a gentle breeze
meant something as well

but they talked about it the
way they talked about time
in Latin, Polish, Gaelic,
and Serbo-Croatian
weather and time
were the same word

In ancient Greek, kairos
meant the opportune
moment or the weather
I’m not sure I totally
understand the connection
except, perhaps, the sense

that time is more like
a breeze or a rain storm
than a ticking clock
we can no more save
or standard it than we
can guide a hurricane

the rain falls on the just
and the unjust or
maybe it just falls
time passes and heals
and makes us miss things
we are seasoned by both

even as we delude ourselves
into thinking we can control
either one; the best we can
do is cooperate, take our place
in the storm and the seconds

surrender our schedules
and forecasts, learn to ride
the wind rather than punch
the clock or set an alarm
and let our hearts dance
to the rhythm of the rain

we are not late or early
we are here, alive in this
time, in this weather
a climate of continual
change, a string of
moments that matter

Peace,
Milton