Life has no guarantees,
But we like to pretend it does.
I like to imagine I can organize all my cards
So that their alignment makes a perfect hand.
But so often I find I have dropped a card,
Chosen to lay one down at the wrong moment
Or failed to lay one down at all.
And sometimes I save the Ace
To play at just the right time-
Planning and plotting and envisioning
The minute when that win will pull me through.
Yet despite my planning, life can still pull the table out
From under the game I thought I played.
And so now I find myself
Picking up pieces that have fallen to the ground.
I look for meaning within this mess of ideas
That were once propped within a plan.
I reshuffle my card deck
searching for a new pattern
To help me find exactly who I am.
Life has no guarantees.
But I certainly like to pretend it does.
—Written by Sandy Heights