Trust by Thomas R Smith

It’s like so many other things in life
to which you must say no or yes.
So you take your car to the new mechanic.
Sometimes the best thing to do is trust.

The package left with the disreputable-looking
clerk, the check gulped by the night deposit,
the envelope passed by dozens of strangers—
all show up at their intended destinations.

The theft that could have happened doesn’t.
Wind finally gets where it was going
through the snowy trees, and the river, even
when frozen, arrives at the right place.

And sometimes you sense how faithfully your life
is delivered, even though you can’t read the address.

Trust

Another poem in which the poet tells us his subject in the title and then goes on to show us what that reliability might look like. So many things in life to which you must say no or yes, do I trust or not? The package left with a sketchy clerk, the wayward banking machine, your letter passing through many hands – all show up at their intended destinations. Perhaps not every time, but still, we are asked to trust. Even the new mechanic, the theft that didn’t happen.

I was delighted to imagine the wind getting where it was going / through the snowy trees and how the frozen river arrives at the right place. Because it’s true, isn’t it, wind and water move naturally, know where they are going. But the best part for me is at the end, how faithfully your life / is delivered, like the package or the envelope, even though you can’t read the address, especially when you can’t read the address. How we must have faith in what life gives us even if we’re not sure it was meant for us.

Sometimes the best thing to do is trust.