Alas it is nearly the end of April and I have neglected
writing my thoughts to you.
My excuse, weak as it was, I had foot surgery the first of the
month and haven’t felt much like doing anything but reading and whining.
April is an interesting month for me first, because my
mother’s birthday was last Sunday. She would have been 104 years old, though in
the end she wasn’t interested in being that. She was my biggest mentor. I
remember that she had a book on the table where she could always reach it—a poem
a day. I don’t know if it’s the same one my daughter now has or if it is with
my sister.
The second is, April is National Poetry Month.
National Poetry Month, a celebration of poetry which takes place each April,
was introduced in 1996 and is organized by the Academy of American Poets as a
way to increase awareness and appreciation of poetry in the United States.
And I almost missed it. My daughter sent me one of the poems
for a day this last week.
LEISURE
What is this life’ if full of care
We have no time to stand and stare?
No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows
No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass
No time to see, in broad daylight
Streams full stars, like skies at night.
No time to turn at beauty’s glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.
No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began
A poor life this, if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
W.H. Davies
It reminded her of me she said! Do you supposed that I sit
and stare mindlessly sometimes?
Or is she remembering lying side by side in the grass
watching cloud pictures forming in the sky, or walking in the evening to watch
the sunset? Do you remember doing things like that as a child or with your
children? Go spend some time this spring enjoying nature. Stand and stare. Or
try writing or reading a poem.
One of my favorites I wrote in May 2005
Snowman
There’s a snowman out my window
And I wish he’d go away
I think it’s just disgusting
That he’s still here in May
