#NewThisDay Writing From My Photo Stream

. . . imagine your heart is just a ball you learned to dribble up
and down the length of your driveway back home. slow down

control it. plant your feet in the soft blue of your mat and release
it is hard but slowly you are unlearning the shallow pant

of your childhood. . .

Excerpt from “Child’s Pose,” Brionne Janae

Child’s pose. Ah, yes, this is what I needed. Frank leaves early. I am restoring in the soft morning air. Butterflies in the bushes. Stretching, swimming. As soon as I hit my mat in child’s pose I realize, deeper, deeper, deeper into this letting go. Even my eyes, lids closed, I think, yes, even my eyes need to fall into child’s pose. I stay there in rest. I read a poem or two by Natalie Shapero’s collection, Hard Child. The pool has a fountain and soothing music. I think, well, I can write my weekly Aim for Astonishing prompt now. And I want to, and I do. When Frank gets home we go out for coffee, a nearby cafe. He buys a sandwich; I buy a small spinach quiche. With a bottle of water, this is what we pack for the beach, with two chairs and two towels. In the sun and the surf I play. I walk for a long time, one end of the wide open beach to the other. We meet our friends for dinner with a view of the ocean for sunset. All of us cheerful, rested, exuberant. Awaiting our friends who have been delayed, and come to join us just after sunset. More exuberance. Victor, our new friend and guide for some excursions join us as well. He will take us kayaking tomorrow on the river. I have talks with both my daughters and son. All is well. My youngest has sent me part of the draft of her thesis to proof tonight. Her thesis, as graduate school nears its end. And fresh and restored from this blissful day, I have all the energy I need.