“ …imagine yourself passing from

            and into. Passing through

                       doorway after

            doorway after doorway.”

~Excerpt from “Threshold,” by Maggie Smith

A week passes and I have returned to an earlier rising sun; the beach is beginning to be light before 7 a.m. and I hurry out into the warm breezy air. January chill mornings have passed. I watch the shorebirds and feel how fortunate I am to be back in their habitat. The pelicans are frisky in their flying and fishing. I have no fixed idea of how long and how far I will go. There are many distractions: the mushroom capped jelly fish and the calico box crab left behind in low tide. The sun is shining through shells. I am thinking about my work for the day and the poem I will bring to my Monday night workshop. There has been much time with my mind on many things. I suspect that I will work on the poems from letters. The Gulf water is not quite icy, but bracing, as I dip in and out on my way home. One of my writers who has been inspired by my weekly Aim for Astonishing writing prompts writes excitedly to me today with not one but two poems she is developing. This is unexpected and surprising and exciting when this happens, so I am delighted to comment on her writing. Today I am staying focused on balance. Today, I am grateful for clarity and trusting the wisdom of my age and experience and insight. Seeing the calico crab was a favorite moment of delight to take home with me. It wasn’t until I was home, and looked it up, that I learned its name. So many fine poems shared tonight. Exquisite, even. And I brought two of my letter poems and received helpful comments and encouragement. Still asking myself a lot of questions about them. And I keep going to see what they might become.