So Many People

Today,

a delivery driver brought a parcel to my door.

A quiet thank you

appeared in my mind.

If not for people like this,

how much farther

would I have needed to go

to bring it home?

Later,

another thought appeared.

From a loaf of bread,

to the ordinary things of daily life - 

food, clothing, shelter, transport.

Many people stand behind it.

Not seen,

but not absent.

The phone in my hand

is more than a phone.

Someone designed it.

Someone made it.

Someone assembled it.

Someone transported it.

A simple salad is no different.

The person selling vegetables.

The driver delivering them.

The farmer growing them.

All of them are part of it.

From checking my phone

to eating a meal.

Over the years,

all these small conveniences

have quietly become part of my life.

Some I know.

Most I have never met.

Some simply passed by,

yet left their help behind.

Sometimes I receive a free book.

I open it when the time comes.

Sometimes I receive free food.

And it becomes a meal.

These gifts

simply arrive quietly.

They make me pause

for a moment.

They may not know me.

And I may never know who they are.

Yet many of the conveniences

in my life

exist because of them.