DarrenByrne.com

This weekend, I’m along to the stag of an old friend.
This week, I hear of the engagement of another.
Congratulations to both. I hope
Their lives are long and fun and run
Into nothing but easy hurdles.

Mine curdles, my life,
My plans of wealth and success, scuppered
By cans of beer, of excess
I’ve faltered.

Where once ideas and ideals stood solemn,
The column has fallen, or is maybe just leaning
Allowing for compromises and alterations,
A heart bent on large rooms relents to
An apartment. Age looms.

I once vowed to stay young, to be Peter Pan –
A petered plan. Now old before my time,
Twenty eight, the new forty eight,
Fine lines and a tired mind. I resolve
I will go to the gym, I will walk, I will cycle,
I will eat better, I will drink less, I will rehab.
I devolve
The thought of the aches from my muscles
Gym? Walk? Cycle? Sorrow!
I pour a glass. I’ll start tomorrow.

We slip in and out of peoples lives everyday. Sometimes our effect can be profound, sometimes slight, sometimes we go unnoticed at all. But we’re there. We cross paths with the world and don’t even realise that for the briefest of moments, we are a part of these peoples lives.

I think about that quite a bit. But never more so than when I’m sitting on the DART on the way to work in the mornings. It’s fascinating to watch them all.

Just think about this – how vast is your life? Think about all the years you’re on this planet; think of all the things you’ve done, you’ve thought about, you’ve been involved in; think about all the things you did in school, in college, in work; think about all those nights out, the gigs, the movies, the shows you’ve been to; think about all the people you’ve met this week, last week, last month, last year. It’s truly epic in scale. And that’s just your life. I look around the DART and see about 50 other people on this carriage alone. Each and every one of those people have had similarly vast lives. Mindblowing stuff.