REINCARNATION

droplets of gentle rain
fall through cool damp air
pitter patter on my umbrella
a calm before the storm
then the deluge kicks in...
today is the buddha's birthday
happy bithday bro
i'd also like to wish many happy returns
to another buddha
one of my most avid seedlings
the fella with the pack on his back
life begins at forty
so they say
a kind of reincarnation
the time of mid-life crises for some
for others a time of continuing growth
or slow decay
what does it mean to get older?
a sense of history and time passing?
experience and maturity?
wisdom and authority?
a broader perspective on the art of living?
survival and doggedness?
renewal?
uncertainty?
complacency?
cynicism?
dogma?
bigotry?
next summer i will reach this milestone too
twenty years ago i was a teenager
a fresh-faced youth
in twenty more i will almost sixty
an old man
if i had known then what i know now
i would have had more humility
i would have been less competitive
i would have jumped through fewer hoops
i would have shown more compassion
i would have been less hard on myself and others
i would have given up meat sooner
i would have left a smaller footprint
i would have been more disciplined
i would have been less gullible
i would have been more questioning
i would have challenged my teachers
i would have conformed less
i would have thrown caution to the wind
i would have noticed more
i would have carried a notebook
i would have had more self-confidence
i would have been more hopeful
i would have acted with more urgency
if only i had known then what i know now