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Posts Tagged ‘relaxing’

The Uptight Scheduler Writes to James Crews

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , on July 26, 2025| 15 Comments »


 
 
Remember the morning when you and I
were leading a retreat in the old white church
with the bell that still works and it was nine oh three,
and you turned to me and said,
Let’s give folks a little more time to settle.
And I, who had been longing to ring that old bell
since eight fifty six so we could start on time,
well, I sat down at the gingham cloth covered table
and leaned back and stretched my legs,
let my empty hands rest in my empty lap
and a spaciousness entered my limbs
the way the scent of coffee fills the kitchen.
I felt it all day—a new looseness inside the hours.
 
There are moments when we are ready,
perhaps, to learn a new way to meet a day,
and you, on that morning, with your quiet voice
and unhurried step, you gave the one-sentence sermon
I most needed to hear. Time went from constraint to gift.
All around us people chatted and laughed.
I didn’t fixate on nine oh four and nine oh five.
Instead, I opened like a clock without a hand
and became part of that happy, eager noise.

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Learning to Swim

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on July 18, 2012| 2 Comments »

And again she scoops air
into her cheeks, buoys her body,
and flops face first into the water,

her limbs, unsyncopated,
thrash with joy. She is all splash
then all snort, and she wretches

and belches the water, then smiles
wide enough for three smiles,
giddy with the wonder of floating—

how just an hour ago she didn’t know
that it would be today
that she would lift

her feet from the bottom and rise
to the water’s top. I wonder

how many pools I’ve been wading in,
waist deep, not knowing
the morning will come

maybe today, when I will stumble
and find all my weight is lifted,
supported, if only I relax.

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Five Unlearning Haiku

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 4, 2012| 1 Comment »

That wind always tries
to undress me … today
it took my name, too.

*

It’s hard to be
serious when you’re kissing
my elbows.

*

What’s that? It’s only
supposed to have seventeen
syllables? But the sky today deserves at least twenty-five.

*

Erase the word mine
from these lips. Replace it with
nothing.

*

Tonight the stars
are just stars, the lines that link
them all undrawn.

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