Nearness.

“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.

Empty ourselves in pursuit of the
fulfilling.

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

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

To roam and wander
is not seen as lostness;
perhaps it is not.
Yet the long is often shallow —
sometimes hollowed clean.

Is joy found in the farther,
meaning in the reaching?

Perhaps depth of riches
is in the nearness.