The Common Room

Against a setting sun, five people form a circle, visible only as silhouettes

How does it happen? this transformation.
Arriving from many directions,
one bearing snacks,
another the workday's toll of tension;
one anxious for the family dinner,
one thinking still of the parent's sickbed,
or the child's;
one joyful from a day well spent, and one
still processing, processing
the pain of another, revealed
in confidence.
How do we do it?
How do we become a whole,
a body,
each listening to the other,
accepting ideas not our own,
building together;
wiser and more compassionate
than any of us alone;
creating and calling
the spirit of life,
living
the spirit of love.
And then leaving, returning
to the home, or the workplace;
to the family, or the empty room;
to the sick parent, or child;
or to walk quietly before sleep,
thinking, thinking of this day.
How do we come together?
How do we make this time sacred?