glimpses

Sometimes we get glimpses. Beauty. Opportunity. To reach out and take the calloused hand of fate… that is truly the choice one must make. We see a sign. We notice someone across a crowded room. A great fire. Our glances meet. Alone we are inept and wander through life in gloom. Together, our hearts are like headlights pointing at the night… We see glimpses in all things. Sometimes it is all bad. A glimpse into the darkness lurking in everything. Often, we see only light. Hope round the next corner. The morning sun. A friend.

I seek continuously. I drive gritty alleyways. Filth. Tires. Trash. Forgotten photographs spilling from rain-soaked cardboard boxes. I pull the truck to the side. Pool slide. Blue and sun-faded. It juts above the wall like a beacon. Opportunity.

I look at the pools I find. After all of the years that I’ve done this, I still can’t believe the glaring despair in it all. Once a haven for family, friends and loved ones. A sign of prosperity and mild affluence. A respite on a hot summer day. Children. Cookouts. An American dream…  gone horribly wrong somehow. We take it and flip it. If only for a brief moment. These pools become a haven once again. Creativity. Positive power… Opportunity. Glimpses.

When all is said and done, I must remember that we can only do so much. The rest of the world has gone and got itself in such a hurry. Frenetic. Out of control. People want more…  Now. Now. Now. Too much buying and too little caring. We have skateboarding. It is our secret panacea… Skate- Ozzie