Why I Like Living

 

… although I think my cat does it better. Still,

as I can’t be her, I can at least enjoy her –

that sleek, soft fur, and the long low purr

she gives me when I stroke her after she’s

just awoken, or at any time really. I suppose,

no I know, that’s one of the things I like best 

about living. And then, I like the scent of roses,

to stoop and breathe them in, deep and slow.

What blessings are our noses! Without those

versatile organs, we’d all be losers. But as one

door closes, another opens: the seasonal

flowers must die down now, in slow autumn,

before being reborn, yet I can’t be forlorn

when every new cloud thrills me with beauty, 

or when the moon shines full, or I grab a mango

and taste my fill. 

My friend sends a video of her afternoon,

in her new home, peacefully gazing at rain

through her picture window; in the background

Tony Martin and k.d. lang singing – bringing

her own pleasure over the streets and houses to me, 

where I’m alone and now no longer alone. Though

the tone of the day might seem subdued, yet I feel

I could rise and dance a fandango, springing

from my chair to whirl in the air, flinging wide 

my hands; or segue to a tango, imagining arms

that I have known, fond arms, holding me, bold 

and tender, shouldering a kind share of my cares. And 

if all I can do now is call on memory, still how I like

to dream and remember.... Yes, I like my living,

I like my loving: all that I’ve done, and all that as long

as Fate weaves, I will.

[Also see revised version.]

The NaPoWriMo prompt today was complex and lots of fun: to list words in several categories, then find rhyming words for them, and create a poem not necessarily in full end-line rhyme but with much sound-play. I ended up doing the same, as I wrote, with more words in the poem which weren't even in my initial lists. 

The Poem A Day prompt was to write on 'living,' which of course dovetailed beautifully.

It was very nice to have my poem featured out of this day's pieces at NaPo!