éxi plevrés

(six aspects —Greek)

 

So, we end where we started —

éxi plevrés

Six sides

not separate 

but held in tension 

around where we stand

 

We stand in the midst of a hexagon—six views.

 

We revisit the window looking into the past.

Together, we walk with happy memories.

We walk through sad ones.

We visit love and loss.

We witness joy and sorrow.

We watch grief unfold with no set timeline.

Looking back teaches humility.

 

We come again to peer through the window 

at the world around us.

This view is always our own.

Even when the impact is global, 

we feel it first where we stand.

Looking around teaches presence. 

 

We return to the window looking inward.

This is one of the hardest ones to approach.

Liking oneself and being at peace with self are fragile things.

Neither comes without returning here—again and again.

It is not easy. It is always necessary.

Looking inward teaches honesty. 

We walk to the window looking out.

Here we view the world beyond ourselves —

constantly changing 

Here we wrestle with right and wrong on a broader scale.

We see globally—and act locally.

Looking outward teaches responsibility. 

 

We return to the window looking upward.

Here we stand beneath 

what is greater than us.

We confront our mortality 

in the presence of the eternal.

We do not always find answers here—

but we find perspective.

We find humility. 

We find something that calls us 

higher than ourselves.

Looking upward teaches perspective. 

 

And still, we come to the window looking ahead. 

It is the easiest to approach—

and the costliest to live.

It is easy to dream. 

It is harder to become.

This window does not stand alone.

It draws its light from all the others.

Looking ahead teaches courage. 

 

We look in every direction.

Now—we live from where we stand. 

 

© Ron Simpson Jr.