A Sense of Belonging
By John Herlihy

I awaken in the morning with a foolish, reckless longing,
Thrilled in a world that freely extends its sense of belonging.
I brush away in contempt my constant companion, anxiety,
To go about my business with a profound sense of sobriety.
I bribe all my feelings of envy and spite into profound silence,
And await the kind visage of the new day in quiet compliance.

Still little anxieties disturb the day’s serenity lodged in my head,
There in nooks and crannies filling me with impending dread.
Many people go through life feeling on the outside looking in,
Wearing a cloak of receptivity, feeling uncomfortable in our skin.
I never paint the day drab to throw our rosy dreams in contrast,
That gather in the wake of our lives before vanishing in the past.

A far greater triumph meets day’s end in peaceful contentment,
Bewitched by rigors of life’s passing with no feeling of resentment.
Our thoughts run thru our minds recklessly in habitual succession,
With no pretense of turning into anything but compulsive obsession.
Indeed, time itself seems to be made scanty in the rush of hours,
What little is left over will surely tax all of our diminishing powers.

I still suffer a tentative shyness that I wear like a winter cloak,
While inward criticism of all and sundry emerges from areas remote.
Tomorrow, I hope to replenish my life with music in a major key,
And extinguish all the anxiety and depression of life’s minor key.
I will awaken again tomorrow with a foolish, reckless longing,
And thank God’s judgement in giving me a sense of belonging.