This morning I felt a call to do my familiar walk that I took with Marianne almost every day. Growing up in California and spending many years in the northeast where there are no mimosa trees, finding them here in North Carolina was a nice discovery. I remembered a poem I had written under the shade of this same tree and searched for it. I was surprised to find mimosa mentioned in six of my poems! This is the first one.
Timeless It was the same walk as always All the familiar sights and sounds The oak trees and the maples The tall pines and the simple grass Flower beds tended with care Magnolias and flowering mimosa A speedy little chipmunk and ubiquitous squirrels The dull drone of traffic in the distance The ever present song of birds The little bug on the pavement I was surrounded by life. But this morning it was special I became aware of a subtle shift There was a different quality, not of time I think the gateway was some remembered lines of verse The moving finger writes and having writ moves on And neither piety nor wit Can call it back or cancel half a line of it It was a gift from an uncle long ago A cherished volume still on my shelf Why did I remember it this morning? I had been dogged by regret Sadness followed me on my path I knew past could not be changed Then I sensed a different quality I have known it before Time was no longer present No expectations, regrets, yearnings Just the lovely morning in summer And I was quietly happy In this moment in my timeless world.