Happy New Year! On Friday, I posted about my art journal that I am using for scrap paper poems. Often I am inspired to write while out and about. This weekend I was driving to my parents’ home in Mississippi listening to On Being and watching for birds on the highway. The muse hit, and I scratched out this poem in a tiny notebook I keep in my console.
We are all dizzy
tilting this way and that
speeding through our days
at 75 miles per hour.We distract ourselves with distractions.
We cover noise with sound.So look
at the egret, still and patient.
He flies on white wings
dragging his long stick-like legs
behind him.(c) Margaret Simon
My wish for you in 2019:
Slow down.
Watch the birds.
Savor the sunset.
Speak to the moon.
Hold your loved ones close.
Know when to let go.
Live each day.
Laugh more.
See more.
Be more.
love your wishes! taking each one to heart. Happy New Year, Margaret
Enjoy, dear grandmother!
Happy New Year!
Such beautiful wishes. I think we’d all be better off if we spoke to the moon more often. I love your poem–especially the final stanza. Happy New Year, Margaret!
Happy New Year to you, Margaret! “Know when to let go.” Oh, that’s a good one.
What a beautiful poem with such words of wisdom.
So lovely, in its spareness, is your wish-poem. In the other about the birds: “We distract ourselves distractions” – pure truth!
“With* distractions”
Thank you for sharing this gorgeous poem and your wise wishes. I wish the same for you, my friend!
Wonderful thoughts as one year ends and the next begins. Love the line “we cover noise with sound” and the wish for us to “speak to the moon.” And, as always, I am grateful to you for reminding me of how nature serves as inspiration .
Thank you, Margaret. So much wisdom in your words. In the past 6 months, I have had to let go in order to hold loved ones close and live each day. Blessing to you in 2019.