Unconsciously

Every moment of the day
I have the opportunity
of dying.

I know this from all manner of accidents
that have taken friends away
in the prime of their lives.

And so it is when a tree snake
swallows an egg whole
from a bird nest.

How do we find the courage
to drive the hectic traffic
at rush hour?

How do we find the pluck
to walk the rocky edge
of Sandia Crest?

Certainly not by calculating the odds
on spreadsheets
with arcane algebraic formulas.

Mostly by not thinking about it,
I think—just like I don’t think
about loving you. I just do.

copyright © 2020 Kenneth P. Gurney