I came to you on a whim and divine providence

I came to you on a whim and divine providence.

Maz had said, I think Notre Dame is hiring. Why not see?
Forty-eight hours later I smiled nervously as "TBA" at new teacher in-service.
In an innocent instant one life had passed and another began.

Seventeen years later I marvel at how time flies.
The familiar rhythms of a school
Familiar faces in colleagues and students
Familiar lessons all make it seem easy now.
Can it be I began with only two sentences to guide my lessons?
Can it be I've seen a dozen administrators come and go
And likely 5 times that of colleagues?
Can it be I've taught and been taught by 2000 adolescents?
Phase I and II of renovation, new tennis courts, teachers' parkinglot, new football field all mark physical changes in the grounds,
Though the institution remains unchanged.
How could I have known a simple job inquiry would turn vocation,
sustaining me for so long?
How could I have known a simple job inquiry would see me through
two adoptions and the death of my father-in-law?
How could I have forseen the support of fellow POETS
And the coming and going of so many dear friends?

We live in the moment - like infants who
think you only exist when you are present;
We are most present to the time and place of Now.
So while the places we've been go on without us, we often don't think of them.
Sure, every now and then we dream of that perfect beach
we reclined upon once long ago
or that friend we haven't seen in years, but
Mostly we live each day as it comes.
Life demands it be so-
And that is how it should be.

I came to you on a whim and divine providence.
I leave the same way-
Off to some new adventure
The next leg of my life's journey.
I'll continue to BE and you shall, too.
We shall exist simultaneously but separately.
Every now and then we shall dream of one another and check
FACEBOOK for a message or a word,
for some way to keep connected while worlds apart.
No doubt your prayers for me and my memories of you
shall keep me anchored through the awkward
Beginnings in my new land.
No doubt I will tell them-

I came to you on a whim and divine providence.