Life's Work

Stones land at your feet
To remind you
Of permanence,
To teach you
That sooner or later
It all comes crumbling down.

You can build a bridge
One pebble at a time
This is your life’s work…

But you are not the builder
Or the bridge
Or the destination.
You are not even the traveler
Finding your way
From one place to another.

Squeeze too tight -
It all turns to sand.
Take too much -
One stone turns to twenty
And the load
Breaks your back.

One day
Decades or minutes from now
The bridge that gave you purpose
And a perception
That there was more to do
And more to come
Will fall to the earth…

And you realize
You’re that tiny stone
Finally
Heading back
Home.

{Jill Lurie 6/13/12}