Surrounded by Grace

One day recently the thought occurred to me that grace pools around us, and that thought morphed (appropriately) into the following poem. Whatever happens this day, I trust that you will be surrounded by grace. Look carefully, and you'll see that it is all around you.

Chameleon

 Over eons, grace

has perfected

the art of hiding

in plain sight

by shape shifting—

Here a tissue

offered to dry

tears of exhaustion,

there the sparkle

of a ring affixed

to a woman’s finger

for more than 50 years,

Always wafting

on the milky breath

of a newborn

and on breezes

that fortify crews

of sweaty roofers,

And if you look

askance, you can see

her in the cat’s offering

of a dead mouse

and in valentines

scrawled for mothers

of second-graders.

Through a lifetime

of constantly changing

circumstances, she is

the chameleon found

wherever beauty abounds

and kindness quickens,

a sly yet steadfast

reminder that all

of us live continually

in a state of grace.