THE BIGGER STAND

The tree is bare and the moon is barren, the city is empty and the steps are fallow. He moves along the trackways, crossing the beams of sun, moon, and stars. She raises her arms in supplication, her arms aping the bare tree, her heart the barren moon. There are miracles in the everyday, there are tragedies in the tomorrow. For every moment of glory, there is an undercurrent of despair. But he smiles and looks to the moon, and she smiles and touches the stars, connecting through the everyday towards the ultraday. Everything is imbued with something, every creature is imbued. There is good, bad, indifferent - all and the same. We are creatures of complexity, and we are part of the greater whole. We make mistakes, we stumble. No good looking for signs and patterns - we sometimes make mistakes, and sometimes we stumble. The tree lies bare, and the moon shines in barren neglect. The fox screeches and the rabbit screams. He steps over the generations of fallen leaves, and she sits within the deep moss surrounding the great tree. Neither sees each other, neither senses any shift in the moment. They are happy and content being part of the bigger stand, being part of the cosmic dream. So he smiles and looks to the moon, and she reaches up and touches the stars...and the rustle of movement that is the serpent in the bare tree is ignored, as it was meant to be.