Our Own Ebb and Flow
Nathan Lin
Class of 2018
A perfectly balanced life is a laudable goal,
But, like world peace, it is unreachable.
Life does not operate as such,
As much as we would like it to.
Rather,
Life is rhythm. Lub.
It is the swing of our hormone levels. Dub.
It is the changing of the seasons. Lub.
It is the incessant beat of the heart. Dub.
It is the cycle of birth and death,
and it is breath.
Inspiration too has its own flowing rhythm:
At times a faintly babbling brook,
At others, gushing rapids that roar.
It gifts us meaning.
Like a leaning Atlas, we are equipped to hold up the world
And to spin it on its Axis.
It infuses our bodies- every body- with electricity,
Imparting upon us a cosmic energy, a dignity that crackles with life.
We cannot care for ourselves
(thus we cannot care for others)
without this life force that waxes and wanes within us.
We must be vigilant and embrace it when it comes around again,
As, lub dub, it is sure to do.