that would have been a great time
for me to tell you I love you,
that time when I jabbered on
about the shapes of glasses,
about the weather, the color of the tile
Posts Tagged ‘opportunity’
One Missed Opportunity
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged chance, conversation, love, opportunity, parenting, what matters on May 13, 2025| 3 Comments »
How It Is Now
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged body, doors, opportunity, possibility, trust on February 21, 2025| Leave a Comment »
In every moment, doors appear—
not literal, of course, with knobs and locks,
but metaphoric, yes, with thresholds and casings
and simple invitations I feel
in my body, an architecture of possibility.
I didn’t used to notice them.
Was it because they weren’t there,
or because I simply had not yet learned
to see them? Now I marvel
at how omnipresent they are,
and all they ask of me is that I choose
to step through them or not.
I recognize them more in my body
than with my mind. As if the body
has spent decades learning, oh, this is what
it feels like when a door appears.
As if the mind is at last learning to say
yes, body, I believe you. Now I trust
that I can change everything with
just one step across that invisible
threshold. Or not. Now I know
once I take that step, I can’t return
to the place I had been. And there will always be
another door. Another door. Another door.
Doors Where I Have Knocked
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged change, door, loss, opportunity on February 6, 2025| 2 Comments »
Door of forgiveness that’s never locked.
Door of dreams. Door of god.
Door of contentment without a knob
that can only be entered with empty hands.
Door of tenderness that opens with breath.
Thick door of safety. Wide door of rest.
Windowless door to the future. Hingeless
door of hope. Door of patience. Door of no.
Door that requires I take off my name
before it will let me in. Door of prayer.
Trapdoor of sin. Door of courage.
Door of less. Door where the password
is always love. Trick door that appears
when I’m too weak to move. Door of
the heart where someone knocks back,
where I listen as if I might understand.
But it was the unwanted door of loss—the door
where I didn’t chose to knock, forged
from despair and gnarled wood—
that was the door that changed me for good.
The Key Speaks
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged consequences, key, opportunity on April 17, 2020| Leave a Comment »
I couldn’t believe
she tossed me
into the back of the car—
after all, a key
is an important thing.
But toss me she did.
You should have seen
her face when all
the car doors locked,
me sitting there
on the back seat
That can’t happen,
she said. But it did.
That can’t happen,
she repeated,
as if her words
might change the world.
But everyone knows
words won’t open
a locked door.
That can’t happen!
She’s still ranting,
walking circles
around the locked car.
What’s done is done.
How many innocent choices
have pitiless consequences?
Tossing a key. Not
washing your hands.
Not saying I love you
when given the chance.
Why Sometimes It’s Best to Pretend You’re Not Home
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged exhaustion, opportunity, poem, poetry on February 4, 2019| 6 Comments »
They say opportunity knocks, but then
once it’s in, I’ve seen it punch. Explode.
Manhandle. Demand. Require. Kick.
Throttle. Strangle. Rebuke. Erode.
If only it only knocked, perhaps
I’d be more inclined to answer the door,
but sometimes, once in, it takes all you have,
and then, when you’re spent, it takes more.
*Dear Readers … this is just to say that this is NOT the poem I thought I was sitting down to write, but this is the poem that showed up. And any of you who have taken a class with me know that I am a big fan of the dictum of Jack Mueller, Obey the poem’s emerging form. So I did. I think I almost scared myself with this poem. Enough that I thought twice about sending it out. But here it is …
Opportunity
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged choices, kindness, opportunity, poem, poetry, wayne muller on September 4, 2018| 3 Comments »
To live a day, to care for a single day, is to shape a life. Each day is an opportunity to choose where to place our care. What shall we do today? What simple acts of remembrance will we use to punctuate our time and enrich our walk upon the earth this single day?
—Wayne Muller, How, Then, Shall We Live?
How many kindnesses did I miss today?
How many chances to help another
did I walk past, my eyes somehow fixed
already around the corner? How much beauty
went unnoticed? How much joy left
unspent? I am like the hiker at the foot
of the mountain who wanders in the fog,
not noticing the fog circles only the base. If I chose
to climb just a little, I’d see how red cliffs reflect
afternoon sun, see how new snow
catches in the trees and makes of each limb
a masterpiece. How is it I am not in
a constant state of wonder? Even
the fog gathers the pink of morning,
makes a practice of softening each
surface it touches. So simple,
the art of choosing to pay attention,
a sidewalk not so different in this regard
from a mountain. Every face a chance
to fall in love. Every human story
an opportunity to listen, to place our care.
Look Around
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged A, gratitude, opportunity, poem, poetry on April 20, 2014| 1 Comment »
illustration by Leanne Canty
Look Around
‘Opportunity’ comes from the Latin porta, which is an ‘entrance’ or ‘passage through.’ The word is associated with doors and entranceways and an oppourtunus then, is what offers an opening, or what stands before an opening, ready to go through.
—Lewis Hyde, Trickster Makes this World
A crumb is an opportunity
for an ant. Strong wind is an opportunity
for the albatross to soar. An apple, ripe
and wholly red, is an opportunity to share.
For the aardvark surrounded by termites,
opportunities are everywhere.
The rain, to the agave, is an opportunity
to blossom. To Cleopatra, the venom of the asp
was an opportunity to die.
In golden autumn, aspen leaves are an opportunity
to get lost. An acorn is an opportunity for future shade.
A queen of hearts is an opportunity for an ace of spades.
There are always opportunities to listen. An enemy
is an opportunity for antlers to do what antlers do.
The temperature of a nest is an opportunity for an alligator egg
to be an alligator boy or an alligator girl. The artichoke
is an opportunity for the thistle to be valued.
The vast Atlantic Ocean is an opportunity to be alone.
What is not an opportunity for gratitude? A zillion zillion
blessings wait in every moment, portals for awe,
passages to astonishment, one way tickets with your name on them.