WAIT

WORDS LIKE LIGHT 

Friday,  July 22, 2022

         Today, I want to practice the fine art of waiting. I want to wait, as often as possible, for my thoughts to settle down at the start of a fresh moment.  Each moment makes a brand new beginning – a new life, really – and I need to patiently wait and watch it quietly unfold. If I just linger awhile, taking a few deep breaths, my ambitious and sometimes obsessive thoughts will surely loosen and relax, and the magic of the moment will slowly appear. But it does take waiting – patient, easygoing ‘staying put’ right where and when I am. Maybe I’ll be a good ‘loiterer’ today, just cooling my heels, all day, in the refreshing comfort and wisdom of the present. That might actually be the best way to get a lot done!

IN STAYING
, KS, USA

In Staying, Kansas, 
staying is a popular pastime. 
Trees usually stay standing 
precisely where they are,
almost as if they think
they are lucky to be there, 
and laughter lingers longer here 
than in other towns.
Pillows wait patiently
for people’s heads to finally find them, 
 and happiness,
in Staying,  
insists on hanging around, 
hoping someone will notice. 
Towels in bathrooms stay put, 
well prepared for people’s hands, 
and the sky continues, 
day after day, 
to be the sky.
Best of all, in Staying, 
peace 
persists, hangs on,
continues, 
and carries on.