what is this marrow?

i once spoke to a stranger on a bench on the street and found it beautiful.

then,

on top of it all,

we were speaking absurdly broken bits

of not one

two,

but three

different languages,

in a country that was not my own.

and this,

is transcendent.

with the possibility of madness remaining,

at least some would

agree upon transcendence.

because

some wish to truly suck the marrow out of life.

some revel in the infinite life of the present.

steeping oneself in its boiling waters

until one’s soul is rich and sweet,

and rife with the flavor of experience.

deep,

peaty flavor

that radiates a lush golden hue when happened upon by the sun.

the flavors of tales in both loss and joy,

and the inexplicable intersection of these two

that dapple one's heart

with gratitude and compassion.

that stamp into our souls

a complexity of experience

that cannot succumb to forgery.

as i strive to see my life for everything that it is,

nay,

everything

that it could one day be,

i understand the necessity to urge myself

to clutch to

the innermost section

of my experience,

with the outermost point of my soul.

wishing in every moment

for nothing more

than to revel

in simple tasks

and suck the life of the sun into my being.

newness,

in company and places

are

my toolbox.

my tools: loved ones and strangers alike.

and,

when i sit in a valencian square

reading,

thinking,

listening

intently to the crowd,

missing my loved ones and admiring strangers;

what is this that i am so connected to?

this,

that poets and playwrights have described and translated almost infinitely.

what is this marrow?

this,

that makes a city

and a people

who find the utmost joy in good food and good drink?

how might i

bottle it all up and

carry

it

with me on my way?

yet,

i know we mustn’t bottle it.

we mustn’t believe

falsely

that we have any agency over it.

wholly,

we must step in feet first,

eyes abreast and bosom forward.

i must allow this magic to carry me,

push me.

to flood every facet of my being, and carry me into our great big tomorrow.