Life is always knitting things together —
pick up an old mat, and you’ll find
many things have taken up shop,
habitats of dark and moist
created in the hidden spaces,
roots and mycelium, pill bugs, spiders,
the smell of earth

Pick up anything that’s been in place awhile
and you’ll find unexpected emotions,
sticky at your throat and maybe
behind your eyes —
your caring has set up shop
under your awareness
because life is like that

You will still leave
(life is like that, too)
but not without feeling
the many ways you were connected
but never knew.

©Wendy Mulhern
April 27, 2017