SIMPLE PLEASURES by ANNE CURTIS (a non-dream based poem)

SIMPLE PLEASURES

No need to hurry walking on the beach
no power-walk     no run
This beach is on the east side of the island
a half-hour ferry ride from Seattle
just a few steps down from my front porch

I see a piece of glass     have
an irresistible urge to pick it up
I put it in my pocket     walk on

Beer bottles     Ginger Ale     Alka Seltzer
milk     honey     cough medicine     Coke-a-Cola
and more     all came in glass bottles and jars
How they broke     ended up
in the Sound     then in time washed up
on shore in little pieces I do not know

Gems refined by tide and sand
edges rounded     colors softened     frosted
green     brown     blue is rare     white
Sometimes a bit of broken pottery
worn down     part of a pattern barely visible

Day by day     season upon season
the joy is in child-like collecting
Enchantment is the purpose

[This poem appeared in "Refined by Tide & Sand," a January 2010 anthology of poetry by the residents of the retirement community in which I live. As editor of the anthology I thought long and hard about a title. I was delighted when Anne submitted her evocative SIMPLE PLEASURES, within which was the perfect title in that next to last stanza. The photo above is "Emergence" by Roswila.]

PLEASE NOTE: in most browsers you can click on the above image for a larger version. Also, the photo accompanying a post is not necessarily meant to illustrate it, but to reflect some small, even slant aspect of the verse -- similar to Japanese haiga (illustrated haiku).

There are many other sorts of posts on this blog. I indicate which are about or influenced by dreams. Some non-dream focused posts are book reviews, "regular" poems (some by other writers, as the above is), scifaiku, writing exercises, Tarot haiku, photos, haiga, and so on. However, most of those are in much older posts. There's a listing by month going back to early 2006, at the end of the sidebar.

Click here for a more in-depth INTRODUCTION.

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‘til next time, keep dreaming,

[aka: Patricia Kelly]
**** If you wish to copy or use any of my writing or poems, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”) **** My other blogs: ROSWILA’S TAROT GALLERY & JOURNAL; ROSWILA’S TAIGA TAROT; and OPENING TO THE LIGHT, digital photos. ****