Instructions For Living Backwards

Taste the rain. Feel it on your arms before the clouds roll in, slow and low.
Dance with your shadows before the sun joins you.
Feel the grass before the earth decides to hold you.
Walk into the river barefoot, where the water hums old songs, and the current pulls you in.
Leave your shoes at the riverbank.

Stretch out, reminisce.
Sip on the tea. Eat the biscuits.
Lay out the blanket on the grass.
Forget the names and the words spoken.
Listen to the way they laugh.
Forget the names, notice the way they smile.
Give everyone a hug.
Say hello, like you know goodbyes.
Show up with a flask of tea and a handful of sweets and savories.
Forget the date, the day, the hour.
Fold the days into neat little squares.
Tuck them into your pockets.
Walk into yesterday barefoot.
Open the door. Then knock.