Take everything you can
As you embark on this journey.
You might not return here.
Take the books, especially. They have informed your life.
Take the completed journals
And those blank books you will soon fill.
Take the unfinished manuscripts,
The collection of poems
And the writing practice notebooks.
They are a part of your process.
Take the candles you burn as ritual, the rocks collected from your travels,
The seashells that bring you home
And the carved wooden turtle that stands by your door.
Take the wine, the collection of teapots,
The stuffed-dog and your photographs.
Take the little things that hold space in your heart.
You will need them when you are far away.
Take the new clothes (six sizes smaller),
The scale that has marked your losses,
And the yoga mat for continued practice.
Take the new-found self-esteem,
The emerging voice,
And the pride in what you’ve accomplished.
You will not be that girl again.
Take the sound of your nieces’ laughter
And the Saturday morning coffee with mom.
Take Christmas Eve around the tree,
Memorial Day barbeques,
And summers at the beach.
Take the moments you won’t get back
You’ll miss them when you’re gone.
Take the view from your bedroom window,
The back roads you know by heart,
The stretch of sandy beach you love to walk
And the blinking lighthouse you can see in your sleep.
Take the old familiar places and the lifetime lived here.
Take those things you cannot forget.
You might not return here.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Dawny: Your thoughts and words come deep from your heart...I also cried when I read this piece. You are far from me but only in miles, for you are the closest to my heart. We are mother and daughter...but we are more than that...we are friends. Friends who shared walks on the stretch of beach...and up over the hills... friends who traveled cross-country together in a U-haul... and stayed in motels across the country, dining on pizza, garlic knots and wine! We've traveled together on little road trips...we've visited many wineries along the way... explored the yellow springs and little shops in Ohio...and the mountains in Colorado. We visited Maine and went whale watching in Portland, visited Walden Pond in Massachusetts, your college graduation in Vermont, and drove through Connecticut...shopped together in Smithville, gambled in Atlantic City...and took the kids to parks and museums together. So many memories flood my mind...we tap danced in the elevator so many years ago. Over the years you have become more a part of me than you know. I miss you terribly but am so proud of the woman you have become in your strive for independence. I love you and always will because of who you have encouraged me to be.
Love, Mama
Post a Comment