Mixed Bag

A Poem

For Manas Kala

You told me that as we get older more and more, maybe every day is a mixed bag,

good, bad, work, play and it struck me, poetically, of course and spiritually, because those two are the same,

I remember the feeling of Friday — waking up fresh, new, inspired, alive caressing my precious poems on the screen,

like a mother, like a child, like a silly teen so grateful for this gift, so grateful for this space, I felt it, it was joy, gratitude is joy

I remember the feeling of Friday — when disruption hit, panic, fear, nausea, feeling old to my core, feeling tired and spent,

like a mother, like a child, like a woman on her deathbed hoping that despite all of it, the trauma, the separation, the hard times that it all turned out well in the end, hoping that I did the right things,

reflection on this mixed bag of a day, this mixed bag of a life grabbing my hand into it again and again, manifesting the outcome, or trying to, with prayer, with hope, with dreams, with effort,

grabbing and grasping to see what I can pull out of the bag, the hat, the bones, the heart today.

Jenny Justice is a mom, Sociology instructor, and writer. You can follow her on Medium and at Jenny Justice, Writer. She has been recognized as a Top Writer on Medium in Poetry, Parenting, Reading, Education, Books, Racism, Feminism and Climate Change, so far. You can follow her poetry at Justice Poetic.