When I Was Small

When I was small and just a child

I wandered 'long these grassy trails –

Observed the milkweed and mullein

And saw life's tiniest details.

It seemed that then the plants and I

Were almost equal in our size –

And this afforded me a view

Of monarch eggs and damselflies.

And now so many years have passed

Since once I wandered through this grass.

My height is more a hindrance now

And eyes – less keen – preclude the sight

Of all the tiny precious life

That once provided great delight.

When eyes and mind are of a child,

They are more kindly blessed

Than present eyes – set high but dulled –

And mind worn down by stress.

Have years made wise the thoughts that pass

As now I wander through this grass?

Cannot as deep a truth be known

From contemplation of a stone

At a mountain's base

Than from ascending t'wards the sky

To such exalted view on high

Of grandeur and of space?

1999

(From the book Discoveries In The Dark by Doris Potter)

© Doris Potter

Life's Journey

Together they had forged a life –

Raised three children as best they could –

The years had times of woe and strife

But all in all, most times were good.

Now his sight has dimmed, but his love has not

And he felt their life would start anew

And he went to bed with this comforting thought

But awoke to a future gone askew.

His lifelong mate had been struck down

There wasn't the least forewarning clue

She's in a hospital far from town

And there is nothing now that he can do.

Their old life has now been lost

Their home is but an empty shelf

He too rests his head

On a hospital bed

Praying that soon she will be well.

In moments of fancy he's driving a ball

Onto a beloved golf course green

In her fanciful moments she's standing tall

And painting a lovely verdant scene. 

Their world once traveled in single orbit

Now double ..., Hope asks for overlaps

With all that they have had to forfeit

Fate answers softly "perhaps, perhaps ..."

2003

(from the book Discoveries In The Dark by Doris Potter)

© Doris Potter