My Poem ‘Surprises’

Since I was a small boy, I have always loved surprises.
Since I was old enough to recognise, remember, and understand,
why birthdays, Christmas, and special occasions were important
to celebrate and share,
the not knowing of what gift I will receive and from whom,
and the not knowing of what is going to happen next,
even now, as I turn 32 years old, still makes me feel excited.

Everyday I receive amazing gifts from my family,
everyday I am blessed with the phenomenal presence of my friends,
everyday someone I have never met will inspire me
to think of something that I have never thought of before-
something important that may one day save me.
Everyday Earth feels like a brand new world, constantly evolving,
and humantiy breaths in and breaths out new creations
and drives itself forward,
while maintaining what makes them who they are-
cherishing and nourishing new life,
while at the same time harbouring the means and the will
to start a ticking clock towards the end.

Life is full of surprises.
Being in the dark about something makes the reveal
and the revelation of a secret feel incredible-
so much so that it can completely overwhelm you,
raise your heart-rate, flood your thoughts,
irrevocably effect how you feel in the future,
and make the universe seem fantastic and magical,
like it always felt to you when you were a child.

A kiss on the cheek,
a hand-shake from someone who you haven’t seen in a while,
a message or a phonecall from someone out of the blue,
can be the best thing that has happened to you all week,
the thing that you think about that always makes you smile-
what you don’t expect to happen is nearly always
what makes you feel more and dazzles you
like seeing your favourite view.

We learn so much about ourselves by observing others;
we prepare for what is to come by reliving our experiences in the past;
we learn over time what is meant to be shared straight-away,
and what should be kept undercover;
we prepare ourselves for what happens in our lives as best as we can,
but, ultimately, the answers that we crave
cannot be known without first living outside of the reality
in which we feel the most secure and comfortable,
and by asking the questions that we have always been afraid to ask.

We can’t control who we fall in love with;
we can’t surpress what makes us laugh;
wa can’t let go of our personal superstitions
and our unique fascination of certain myths;
we can’t be good or bad, on the light-side or the dark,
we can only just be who we are-
all shades, all colours, all sides;
just like Earth, or outer-space, or the universe-
you can’t split someone in-half.

The most important thing to remember
about anything that happens in life
is that unpredictability and uncertainty
are the roads and the highways
that we travel down everyday of our lives;
and no matter how fully-formed a thought
about something is in your head
the end result may differ drastically,
and you will be diverted down a route without a map,
through a labyrinth of left and right turns and dead-ends,
before you reach where you are going-
all you can do is make the choices that feel right
at the time that you are making them, don’t fight change,
embrace and learn from what you don’t understand instead.

Living a life to its fullest can be risky,
but if you are very lucky, along the way,
you will see things that others could never imagine,
you will go places so beautiful,
you will meet so many extraordinary people,
you will make great discoveries,
you will win prizes.
The more you live, the more you realize that the universe
and nature, as a whole, isn’t driven by facts and knowledge,
or about measurements, or sizes;
the universe and nature,
no matter what we think we know about it and its nature,
is still full of surprises.

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