I won’t check the news right now if you won’t. Instead, let’s think about summer peaches so ripe we’ll eat them leaning over the kitchen sink, or the crunching sound of walking on snow, and that dusty smell of the first rain, Let’s imagine how it would feel to put on warm socks right out of the dryer, fold a king-sized bottom sheet on the first try, and find those lost keys in a pocket.
In place of updates, alerts, and daily round-ups, bulletins, flashes, and re-reviews, Why not sharpen a fistful of #2 yellow pencils and write thank-you’s to our favorite teachers in cursive. Or stroll alongside a playground listening for ear-piercing squeals only happy children make. Or go bird-watching, lying on our backs waiting for fly-overs, while eating popcorn.
Of course, we could always just pause between headlines to come up for air, suspended between thoughts, and practice the dying art of exhaling very very slowly before diving back in.
Diana Lynn
This article appears in The Green Issue 24.
A wonderful poem, Diana. I am always a fan. I love the images and the way the last few lines guide the reader to slow the pace.