doing the best we can with what we have

For Barb who taught me that we are all doing the best we can with what we have

as I do t'ai chi with David-Dorian Ross I look out the window
and see camouflage clad men with rifles against their shoulders
was it Bambi or bunnies they terrified today

occasionally when I go to the coffee house I see my friend's nephew
the 17-year-old drunk driver who smashed my car and drove away
he has no idea who I am - he looks strung out - I wish him peace

I walk by a car with a Papa John's sign on its roof
across the back window is a hand-made V E G A N sticker
must be a kid who has to deliver what he won't consume to pay his tuition

old lady across the street is cranky about everything
told me once that I shouldn't do my own yard work because I'm a girl
she beamed like a proud grandma when her cactus bore 3 new blooms

high school heart breaker who left with no real explanation
calls 17 years later to apologize
for crimes forgiven long ago

some of it feels like ignorance versus a path to enlightenment
others seem to be examples of yin and yang
maybe it's us all genuinely doing the best we can with what we have

I'm not sure I'll ever figure it out
but I am grateful for the wisdom
that leads me to pay attention