The Difference

This quickly snapped picture perfectly illustrates the difference between my two children. Clare: serious, committed to being safe at all costs 😂, concentrated, poised. Josephine: dancing on the escalator? Do I need to say any more?

Poem: I Only Need This

I don't need the ivory sculptures
The art nouveau, the carved steeple
I only need the weaving of the trees
In the harsh wind, and a smile
On a toothless grandmothers face.
I only need this.

And the cotton candy, Coney Cones
I don't need the token toe dip
Of a polished nail perfection
But the violent, sweet crash of a wave
As it stuns my soul into a state of bliss.
I only need this.

I don't need the Carnegie,
The garage band instant creativity
Give me a single, dubious jazz man
Slapping his spoons to the beat of his feet
And the wonder on a child's face
I only need this.

And when I lie my used body against
The warm, crumbly earth crust,
I will know with every single cell that I
Belonged to the raw yet distilled
Species of human being that is contentment.
I only need this.

    --Me.

Coffee and Pastries in Concord

I'm in Louisa May Alcott land! Prepping with coffee, pastries and her letters before I hit up her house, Walden Pond and The Manse. Fun!