Near.

“For near is where you’ll meet
what you have wandered far to find.”
-S. Cairns

For what is “just” out of reach,
we stretch. Strain. Strive.
We empty ourselves in pursuit
of what hope fulfills.

But what is “just”—
almost, but not quite?
Rightly ordered, not tilted
by self-interest?
Justice refuses distance
when claim belongs close.

Humanity often believes
we’re owed what lies beyond
the fingers’ reach.

To roam and wander
is not seen as lostness;
perhaps it is not.
Yet the long is often shallow,
sometimes utterly empty.

Is joy found in the farther,
or meaning in the reaching?
Perhaps depth of riches
is in what is near.