summer of 1999

There is a plane passing overhead

Someone heading to Greece 

For the first time in their short life

The sun is shining

And there is so much to look forward to

The birds are playing hide and seek together

And some ladies down the sidewalk join them in laughter

There is a lawn mower running in the distance

The sun goes down so early

As the dog barks at nothing

And I am watching

All my inconveniences 

And the earth laughs in my face with its beauty

I know the world is an ugly place

But tonight I will stop doing the dishes

And listen to the kids down the street play basketball

And watch the dad with a colorful backpack

Walk his child home from school, listening to his day

I will smell the spice of our downstairs neighbor’s dinner

I will hear the birds forgetting it’s almost winter time

I will breathe in the last taste of autumn

I will sit on my little porch

I will watch

What a gift–

Of watching

I will try too hard to remember 

How good it feels to be alive right now

In a world like this

I will try too hard to remember

For the dark days ahead

And for all the days of light shining eternal in the distance