Moments in a life sit side by side one another — the infuriating next to the divine, serenity next to fear, joy next to wonder and awe — moment after moment, one story layers over another that is erased or grown dim with time or distance…

—Fia Skye (flyingedna.com)

•••

You’ve tossed them onto the table—
the queen next to the ten, the jack sidling up
to the ace—life moments not only side by side

but also atop, below, adjacent to or opposite,
so many buried you can’t retrieve the ones
you try to bring to the top of the deck.

You’ve dealt them with no idea of the suits,
much less the order. But turning them over
one by one, you find this delightful moment

tucked under a devastating one, no memory
of that one but another offers a flicker of
recognition: the smell of the wedding bouquet,

the baby’s lashes damp with tears, the feel
of his hand taking yours. Each one a story
settling over another. You gather the cards,

shuffle them, feeling the life bits fluffing
between your hands. And that bit of air
whiffing into your fingers?

Hope, hope, hope,
my dear, mixed with joy
and not a little bit of love.