… 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!