The Recommendation

Illusions
Abound
Some lethal
Others harmless.

It is for the individual mind
To discern
Credible threat.

A harmless walk
In the sunshine
Is joy to the soul.

Resting
Half asleep
In one’s backyard
Is restorative.

Yet
Disaster lurks
Ready to pounce
On the unexpecting.

A stray bullet
Finds the head of a child
Playing
In his grandparent’s yard.

A brick falls
From a century-old church
Striking and killing
An innocent pedestrian.

All peace
All safety
Is illusory
In this fractured world.

No one may truly know
Whether the next moment may bring
Pleasure
Or pain.

The remedy?
There is none.

But there is a
Recommendation:
Live life to the fullest
Knowing that the sands
In the glass
Hidden to us
May drain at any time.

Live!
Love!
Laugh!

Disregard
The fear inherent
In this age of terror.

Live every moment
With tenacious enthusiasm
As though it were your last.
And thereby defeat
The lurid threat
Of this darkening age.