that's mrs. mediocrity to you

i remember the day i grew up
my hand on your shoulder and my heart
left somewhere in amongst the gravestones
we’d run through without tripping

and i realize now we made a trade
that day
you standing still
and me never stopping
chasing ghosts i’d never known
but surely

inherited

the clouds sung a choir
of revelation
just before i knelt

to pray for silence

and then i was off
like a shot or a doe or a wild-legged
mustang

wind in my hair streaming long
back behind me
your hand outstretched
but never grasping
how i’d left you alone

with your fear

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A poem a day for 30 days, in honor of National Poetry Month. Day 8
I’m participating in NaPoWriMo, and Writer’s Digest Poem a Day Challenge.

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standing on the line
between years
looking back at one
toward another

this path has no end
circling the earth
in one bold stroke
drawn freehand

today i walk it
like a tightrope
arms outstretched
knees wobbly

tomorrow i bring out
my pen
begin again
word by word

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wishing you and yours a most lovely of holidays

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xoxo

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It seemed like a big year (it was definitely a big number). It seemed like something momentous should happen, something grand accomplished, some milestone achieved that would mark time’s passing in a less than usual way.

And it was, and it wasn’t. It did, and it didn’t.

In truth, it was another year very much like all the years before it, and for that, I am grateful. I didn’t achieve the goals I set for myself, although I did make progress towards them. And I am okay with that. Because the truth is, life happens. The truth is that today is one more day on my life calendar, and the truth is, this is the day that matters most. The one I’m in, right now.

I’m waiting for the results of more medical tests today, and hoping for good news.

I’m looking out the window of my studio just now and it’s a gorgeous winter wonderland, made even better by the fact that I don’t have to drive anywhere.

My son is already home for the holiday, and we had a nice evening together last night, just chatting and being together.

I am re-reading The Book Thief, because something told me it was just the right time to do so.

I’m looking at my snow-covered life and making snow angels in my mind. I’m rolling around in the ordinary magic that makes up this very ordinary day in a very ordinary year in a very ordinary life.

And trust me, I mean that in all the best possible of ways.

I’m reveling in the ordinary. This moment right now with the house so quiet and snow still falling and a cup of tea in my hands to warm them.

I’m going to make oatmeal for breakfast.

And savor the simple truth of this moment.

I’m going to say goodbye to 50 and hello to 51. I always have liked odd numbers best.

I’m going to give this new year a big hug and ask it to join me.

I have a feeling we’re going to be great friends.

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i want to live

in the sky-ceilinged

shadows

.

wood nymph

flower girl

gatherer

.

resisting hope

is hopeless

while

everything grows

amidst decay

.

seeds and leaves

on the floor

of survival

.

i am this tree

that bird

those spiny cones

.

the light

reminds me

of everything

.

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i come to this place

for the silence

and i can’t stop

listening

.

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each one the embodiment

of sunshine

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.

from both sides now

.

it’s all beautiful

.

i stand here wondering

(wandering)

about now and the clarity
of a chrysanthemum

grounded and brimming with growth

what it would be like to live so simply

sun water soil
and perhaps wind
to worry about

and those creepy things that eat at you
leaving holes to let the air whistle through

i have no answers

(pondering)

but i am just as fine with that
as the clove scented rose

clinging to a vine no one wants to climb

growing hips (ha!) for fuel and tea

so much stronger than the
colored bits of beauty
you sniff around

thorn and cane build bud and blossom
roots wrap fingers around earth’s core

i stand here

(wondering)

::

AugustMoon2013:

If you didn’t choose a guiding word, what word sums up your year so far?

::

I didn’t choose a word this year. I waited, instead, to see if a word would choose me.

There have been a few that walked right up to me, looked me up and down, asked if I wanted to try them on for size.

“Magic.” “Small things.” “Permission.”

I liked them all, and the fit was pretty good, but then this month, acceptance walked up, gave me a big hug, and wrapped herself around my shoulders.

Settled in for a nice long chat.

And just like that, I had my word.

Acceptance.

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She and Susan and I have been spending lots of time together, out in the garden beneath a perfect gypsy sky. And don’t tell her I said this, but Susan is such a show off this year.

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This post is part of AugustMoon2013. You can find out more about the project here.