small poems, late autumn 2023

 In late October I felt inspired by Ross Gay’s essay collection, “The Book of (More) Delights,” to keep a record of moments in the day that brought me a sense of happiness, or even just a sense of ease, no matter how small, no matter how fleeting. I did this for 6 weeks, using a 6-line format.


the moment i remember something
i was struggling to remember
since yesterday —
this is the first
delight of
today

==

5:15 in the morning
waking from a dream
with two words in my head:
“catching waves”
i don’t know what that means
but i have a good feeling about it

==

they are only 23 years old
dad with a cigar in his mouth
my beautiful mother with her light-up-the-world smile
i was just a few months
but somehow i’m already 72 and
seeing this photograph for the very first time

==

this morning
when my brain began to spin
i told it to just STOP —
and i went off
to play
with paper, scissors, glue

==

yesterday at the library book sale
seeing so many books i once read
and enjoyed
i pat the spines, tenderly
with my fingertips —
“hello old friends”

==

walking through the park
birds birds
birds birds birds
i hear them
but i can’t see them —
i hope that they see me

==

three real letters
in the mailbox today
from three real friends
and there are still
a few red leaves left
on the tree outside the window

==

this rainy sunday
i can’t decide
which book to read
i don’t let myself
even look at
the chocolate-covered almonds

==

late in the afternoon
wrapped in
purple pashmina
thinking about everything
until i’m thinking about
nothing

==

early this morning
getting the water temperature
exactly right
a long shower —
the scent of grapefruit
and also just a hint of mint

==

wondering where i put it
that big bag stuffed
with balls of yarn
i look here, i look there —
eureka, found it!
now searching for my crochet hooks

==

decades ago
such a clever
halloween costume —
dressed all in black
i declared myself to be
a raisin

==

i thought
the CD player
was broken
but it turns out
all i had to do
was turn up the volume

==

alone
in a vast
empty space
the air so still
my ears
feel full


==

november calendar
30 small boxes
to fill in
there are already
20 things (20 things!!!)
i’m looking forward to

==

this old corduroy shirt
(plum-colored
with all its buttons intact)
still fits me perfectly —
so okay you bits and spits of snow
go right ahead and do your thing

==

i almost forgot
how good it feels
to pull
soft thick socks
over
autumn-chilled feet

==

gray pants
gray sweater, gray socks
gray sneakers
today i’m just
floating around
like a cloud

==

this morning
i woke up worried
about nothing (& everything)
but thirteen hours later
i can say the day turned out
to be just fine

==

in the dream
someone invites me to go see
a new play: “The Day of the Jackal” —
my friend assures me
that everyone says it’s the best thing ever
but i say No Thank You

==

this day
of kindness and compassion
and the gentle flow of conversation
and laughter
and a few tears too —
the way it goes between friends

==

sitting quietly
just that
nothing more
a pulsing sensation in my palms
reminding me that
i am alive
 
==

it’s an odd thing
but today i experienced
so many delights
i don’t know where to begin —
let me just dwell on the hugs
yes the hugs oh the hugs such beautiful hugs

==

this seems to be my time
to get to know old friends
in deeper ways
and to meet new people
who may one day
become old friends

==

the day started
with me reading
a poem about tomatoes
and then for lunch
i cut up cherry tomatoes
and they were much nicer than the bean sprouts

==

i said to myself:
“love more,
fear less”
then i said to myself:
“listen to
yourself!”

==

my bill comes to $15.96
i reach into my wallet
and pull out a twenty dollar bill &
3 quarters, 3 nickels, and 6 pennies
and i get $5 back —
a totally satisfying exchange

==

it happens quite often
when i’m wearing
purple
that people comment
(even strangers)
and they always seem to be delighted

==

in small print
on each one
of the new batteries
this message:
march, 2035 —
what optimism

==

a telephone visit with my sister
remembering people
from the old neighborhood
so many kooks
and also a few
angels

==

in the mailbox just now
tucked in among
7 requests for donations
a handwritten card
from a woman i greatly admire
with a quote from a favorite book

==

this extra hour of sleep
brought me a dream
where i was walking down the street
humming
and then all the people around me
started humming too

==

these shoes are ugly
very very very
ugly
but …
they are so comfortable to walk in so …
i’m keeping them

==

this morning’s crossword puzzle
contains the answer
to a question I asked myself yesterday
and even better:
one answer turns out to be
my name

==

sometimes
i’m disappointed
in myself
for not being
different than who i am…
and then i just have to laugh!

==

the way i laugh
when i talk
with my sister
is different from
the way i laugh
with anyone else

==

reading an article about memory
that i forgot to read
yesterday
but this morning
i remembered
so that’s alright

==

there’s a pin
i wanted to
fasten to my sweater
but i couldn’t position it just right —
i tried and tried and tried
and then i got it into place, perfectly

==

i could have missed it entirely
the early morning sky
so pink and luscious
what made me look out the window at that moment?
what other magic
have i been missing?

==

i wasn’t looking for anything
but the second i saw these gloves
i went WOWZA
they are warm and colorful and soft
and exactly right for this
late November day

==

a cardinal
joined me
on my morning walk
“i am here
i am here”
he sang

==

on the phone with my mother —
she mentions her new neighbor
Alexa —
as soon as she says that word
the little device in her apartment
starts talking to her

==

i woke up with butterflies in my stomach
so i went for a walk
and counted my steps
1 to 20 over and over and over
by the time i got back home
i was breathing more easily

==

looking out the window
a bit of snow on the rooftops
and not a crow in sight
but here comes a young man
bopping along
wearing a bright red hat

==

sometimes people tell me
they recognize me (from a distance)
by my walk
but i don’t always
recognize myself
when i look in the mirror