THE MISTAKE

When the tool you’ve been carrying

longer than you can remember

is mistaken for

a winnowing shovel,

you will know it is time

to set that tool down for good.

You will know it is time

to let the chaff fall from

the grain of your life.

That it is time to trade in

all your warring 

and wayfaring ways

for a modicum of peace

and time with the ones you love.

Be sure to thank the stranger

who made the mistake.

Be grateful you happened upon them

in a place so far inland

that the place knew nothing of

the sea, boats, or salt.

Be grateful for the stranger’s

poor vision, which was really

a prophecy remembered.

Do all this and then

you can really go home.