We all can not help ourselves
from sometimes believing that everything
and everyone will remain
how we have always known them to be...
we all can not help ourselves
from sometimes taking our eyes
off the road and not always
paying attention to what or who
is approaching us...
we all can not help ourselves
from sometimes taking things for granted -
like a sacred tree that has stood for centuries
and to its admirers it is legendary;
however, then something surprising always happens,
then something shocking will occur,
then something, or someone,
will do something so out of the ordinary
and out of the realms of possibility,
and the world itself can feel to some
as if it has been changed irrevocably.

No one can know with any certainty
what will happen when they leave
their homes every morning...
no one can know what the waves of tomorrow
will take with them, nor what they will bring...
no one can know, by only using their eyes,
who or what is standing right beside them...
no one can know what someone
is thinking and feeling when they look at you,
nor what twists and turns a person will take
driven by the energy of their passion.

There are always plans being drawn up...
there is always intention
that precedes every action...
there are always fragments left over
following an unprecedented
collapse of understanding
which brings to the surface fear,
loss, and uncertainty about the future...
there are always people
coming and going, arriving and leaving -
and though we can all sometimes make ourselves and others believe that we are ready for anything,
when something happens
that perhaps feels as impactful
and as disastrous as a star
imploding and then exploding,
when the time comes for us to face
what we may need to face
we will not know what to do,
because when something
of that magnitude happens
we never see it coming.