June 2021

I met up with granddaughter “M” on her last day of school.  Her bag was filled with stuff that she brought home including some poems that she wrote for class.  As she read them I recalled a poem that I wrote when I was her age.  I can’t remember the whole poem just the first few lines and decided on the bus trip home to update what I had forgotten.  Here is the new updated poem:

The birds that fly

way up in the sky

are yours

and mine.

Their feathers

endure all kinds of weather

and guide with grace

to perch in place.

What can we learn from

the birds that fly

high in the sky?

A vision that’s wide

that sees all sides

from high in the sky

the clear eyed bird’s eye.

My strength is not writing poetry or even finding words that rhyme.  I do believe one of my strengths here is the ability to share the joy that “M” exhibited when reading her poetry and allowing my own inner 3rd grader to reveal herself through the start of this poem, and later punctuating it with some 60 plus years of experience.  The child who believed that the birds belonged to all of us to appreciate and enjoy is part of who I am today.  That is my strength, all-embracing.