Pay it forward, right?  That’s really what life

is all about; and so we stand under

stars by a fire in freshly fallen night,

darkened by calamities that plunder

our caches of hope like a furry blight

of squirrels laying siege to the feeder

we keep full for birds.  Pay it forward, right?

Don’t be surprised if the tip is bigger

than the bill; gratuity is the height

of economics, the fair twin sister

of justice, the beloveds both of Christ,

eternal Mary’s and Martha’s who were

and are his cosmic company, flashbacked

and fast forwarded on our vigil track.