And how did that happen?
That enough 24-hour spans occur
that they become lived time,
a lifetime.

And that we are all not granted
as many as some, fewer than others
(and how we are missing those others).

And that there’s no way to know
what the number will be,
or how we are made
or by whom, only that we are.

And we pause in gratitude
on the threshold of this new year,
smiling at whoever you are,
those seen and unseen—

you who make us in silence,
moment by splendid moment,
breath by sweet breath.