By Thomas John Carlisle

It is good to use 

best china

treasured dishes

the most genuine goblets 

or the oldest lace tablecloth

there is a risk of course

every time we use anything 

or anyone shares an inmost

mood or moment

or a fragile cup of revelation

but not to touch

not to handle

not to employ the available

artifacts of being

a human being 

that is the quiet crash

the deadly catastrophe

where nothing

is enjoyed or broken

or spoken or spilled

or stained or mended

where nothing is ever

lived 

loved 

pored over

laughed over 

wept over 

lost 

or found.

I am sitting with this poem this afternoon, pondering what it might mean in my own life. 

I make a habit out of (trying) not to accumulate expensive or valuable things. 

I no longer think about our “nice china” or sterling silver placesettings; items that were SO important for our wedding registry (at least, according to my mother…). 

No, I prefer the IKEA stoneware (although I had to replace the IKEA silverware, as the spoons were not “tea” spoons, they were “miniscule” spoons…). Comfy clothes, purchased at consignment shops. Shifting my spending to food, and books, and music. Things that bring me joy, and sustain me. 

And yet, in my life, I persist in not wearing the nicer clothing. In not using the better lotion. Leaving things for “someday”. 

And why? 

Why leave the nice things for “someday”, when that day may never come? 

What if TODAY is someday?