If you decide to quit,
think of what you've started,
If you quit, yet nothing new happens;
The still rotates clockwise,
The recently built streets and roads
but people still pass by,
The people tell time-related greetings like “Good Morning and Good Evening” even when they say “How do you do?”
The barren tree will regrow—
and the withered flowers will rebloom.
The newly flown butterfly emerged from its pupa—
a fallen yellow leaf from the tree but blown away by the wind,
the rustling leaves, and the sound of the leaves through trees.
Think about all of it,
especially surround us—
”these are what we stay alive for.”
and this is what not to quit;
to be content,
and live in the moment.

© G. E.G. Martinez
Art by Cedar Lee