the playlist doesn't shuffle anymore
	for Martina

do you remember those days
when you'd open your playlist
double-click to start the music
select "Random" because
you liked being surprised

never the same sequence
those songs reflected your life
new adventures with old friends
or old tricks with new ones
it didn't matter - it was fun

but playlists have limits, don't they?
only so many songs you can add
before it becomes too much
like adding year after year to life
until you realize that even "random"
has a pattern to it. you know
without thinking which songs
are coming and in what order

there's a comfort in knowing
just what's ahead. where the road
is taking you, who will be singing
long after they've gone, waiting 
for you to join the familiar chorus

j.lewis
12/14/2023

Topic: Realizing your future is predictable ( as in old age)