I’m clipping a girl’s size 8 hot pink skort still warm from the dryer onto a plastic hanger in the cool quiet of a lonely house near sundown and I wonder:
How did I get here?
And oh, yeah
remembering just then (and again) to feed the fish, the turtle, the dog, the people, these people, an all-day dine,
from a fridge of their favorites, that brand, that bottle, those berries for breakfast, this yogurt not that, certainly none of it mine
Sorting the mail that’s not mine
the socks, the shoes, the glass I didn’t leave behind.
Noticing the brown tinged pine
the toppling trash, the heavy air, the weeds that taunt me everywhere.
Not mine, not mine.
The dusty car, the load of kids
we’re late, they whine
All but one, (thank god) not mine.
The days, the weeks, the calendars kept,
the dwindling time
not mine, no
none of it mine.
How did I get here?
Just lucky I guess.
While I was quietly and thankfully folding yet another load of laundry yesterday, not mine, I wondered why some days, the laundry and the dishes and the cleaning and the shopping and the driving seem like a sacred trust, a gift I have been given for a very short period of time; while other days they feel like chores, incessantly pulling at my sleeves, vying for attention I do not want to give. In the past I thought it may have something to do with my moon cycle and the honoring or not honoring of it. Whatever it is, I am thankful for the days I can see the gift and not the chore. Fabulous poem! Thanks!
Comment by Kathleen Botsford — July 14, 2008 @ 3:05 pm
“Not mine”? Oh, but it’s all yours. That’s the beauty of the lottery-jackpot called life…but you knew that, of course! 😉
Comment by Lorianne — July 14, 2008 @ 4:48 pm
None/all: where’s the difference? But you know that, of course. We can’t escape our luck!
Comment by Karen Maezen Miller — July 14, 2008 @ 5:01 pm
I think this is actually a better mind set than “mine, mine, mine” because when you watch them fly away, you realize then…not mine. Much more painful that way.
Comment by Shannon — July 14, 2008 @ 6:07 pm
just lucky indeed! 😉
Comment by Stella — July 14, 2008 @ 6:20 pm
I adore your blog!
Hey … did you notice this is a POEM?! Holy cow, and a good one.
You are brilliant.
Comment by Mrs. B. Roth — July 14, 2008 @ 6:28 pm
Just lucky.
LOL.
That’s something to live inside.
Comment by Rowena — July 14, 2008 @ 7:21 pm
Aren’t we all?
Comment by mapelba — July 14, 2008 @ 8:42 pm
You’re good for me, Karen.
Comment by Jena Strong — July 14, 2008 @ 9:01 pm
Yes yes! I hear you.
Comment by Mika — July 14, 2008 @ 11:11 pm
I had a great time exploring the links you gave Karen, and wending my way through your world and thoughts.It is delightful. You are loved.
Comment by Pam — July 14, 2008 @ 11:35 pm
Oh my gosh, Karen,
I was in a store yesterday afternoon, and was browsing around. It was a shop that I absolutely adore and I was there to design a table for my home. I was browsing around and a book caught my eye. I LOVE to read, and books seem to call out to me even when I am out focusing on something else. Anyway, I picked up the book and began to browse through it and I was really enjoying it until my husband realized he was about to lose me and reminded me what I was there for. I put the book down knowing that I would be back or that I could purchase it next time I was on Amazon, and went back to what I was supposed to be doing. I made a mental note of the title, but not the author. Well, I was just over at one of my blogging friend’s sites leaving her a comment, and I noticed that you had left her one as well. Her name is Kathleen Botsford. Yours was the only other comment besides mine, so I decided to follow it over to your site. I am always looking for interesting blogs to read. I read your first post and then I glanced over to the side and saw the cover of your book. IT WAS THE BOOK I WAS READING YESTERDAY IN THE STORE!!! What a moment of serendipity! I recognized it immediately, but wasn’t sure why, and then I remembered.
Isn’t it amazing how we are sometimes led to something or someone in a way that might seem accidental, but then we realize that it couldn’t have been accidental at all? I mean of all of the zillions of blogs that are on the Internet, I happened to read the one that led me to a single commenter who happened to be the author of the book that I stopped to look at in an art store, yesterday?
So, I am now asking myself the same question that you asked yourself in your latest post. How did I get here? And I suppose my answer could be the very same, just lucky I guess. Yet somehow, someway, you and I both know that in many ways, luck, has very little to do with it.
Sorry this is so long, but I just had to share my experience with you. I will definitely be back as I feel there is something that I am supposed to learn from you. I will definitely be purchasing your book now!
Hugs,
Debbie
Comment by Debra W — July 15, 2008 @ 12:22 am
Very nice poem, Karen, and I love the ending. (Or is that the beginning?)
🙂
Comment by Allison — July 15, 2008 @ 3:53 am
Exactly. 🙂
Comment by denise — July 15, 2008 @ 2:30 pm
these words, filled with truth, sing song in my heart and i sit in this space and say “thank you Karen…for knowing me”.
Comment by jessamyn — July 18, 2008 @ 7:09 pm