Good fortune

The particulars of this day
           with yesterday’s wind and rain
now behind us and today a blue sky
           with a smattering of thin cloud
and for some reason I’m thinking
           of the approach of spring
followed by summer days
           and wondering where I will be
what shores I will be gazing upon
           or what number of swallows
will fill the air and whether
           good fortune
will finally
           come my way

It has taken me a lifetime
           to understand myself and I admit
there’s still plenty of work
           to be done on that score
not that I consider myself
           to be a suckered soul
the victim of adverse stars
           and imprinted tea leaves :
as long as there is light
           there is hope and as long
as in the night the lamp
           burns bright at your window

John Lyons