I wish you…
January 25, 2015 § 9 Comments
Young friends
to remind you,
adventure lies
just outside your
own back door.
***
Neighbors,
who may not know your name,
but have your face by heart
and dogs who sniff your dog
while everyone wags.
***
Enough
to keep you warm and dry
clothed and fed,
not scared about tomorrow,
but not so much
that what you have
becomes who you are.
***
A body
not too ugly or too beautiful,
comfortable and reliable,
as low maintenance and
easy to operate
as an old VW.
***
Family
who has known you
from first light,
remembers
and tells your stories,
even after you are gone.
***
Boredom,
the itch that spurs
most good ideas
and raises the question,
what next?
***
Luck,
because no one can engineer
or take full credit
for all the favors
life bestows.
***
A passion
that makes you sing,
dance,
and puts air between
your feet
and the ground.
***
Laughter,
the trump card
in the hand of life.
***
Stillness
that doesn’t whir
Or make lists
but simply observes
all that is
with wonder.
***
Adrian Fogelin 
Seems there may be a song here? After the no. 2 pencils, now I see/hear songs everywhere. I, too, wish you this.
Karen
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It is the simplest things that make life, first, bearable, and second, joyous. May we have those simple things–and a good supply of no. 2 pencils.
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my first reaction was “WOW! who wrote that poem??” and then i remembered…. you really nailed all the important things in life with such economy of language. and pointed out the less obvious truths, like not “taking credit for all the favors life bestows” or not having so much that “what you have becomes who you are.”
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There were so many other things that came to mind like love and spiders to watch, but the poem was getting long.
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Yesterday a real bluebird — bright blue coat with yellow-gold breast — did a slow-glide landing about 6 feet from where I talked on my cell phone. It preened for a moment, then flew to a low limb of a crepe myrtle. I watched in awe. Speechless with wonder at such a rare treasure. When I raised my phone to take a picture, it flew away. My memory caught it and holds it still.
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Memory is the best photographer.
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Oh. Adrian. These are exquisite.
And the photo of your grandson? with a visiting birdie ? Even if not a child you have known since first light, a charmed moment to remember.
Calls to mind a b/w photo somewhere, somewhere, of child me with a little wild bird that came to sit on my hand…
Selfishly I wish us more of your I Wish You… collection.
And between book covers one fine day…
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Thanks so much, Jan. I think I’d better explain the thing that is peeking over Matthew’s shoulder. It is a plastic dinosaur head, the grabby part of a grabber, the handle of which is stuck into the waistband of his pants. The nature we were observing was a fine mess of frogs in the pond to his left that didn’t quite make it into the photo.
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I feel so fortunate for having found your blog by chance and read this wonderful post… thanks for sharing it with all of us 🙂
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