Saturday in CinCity. The Remembrance of Things Past Edition.
Happiness
by Joyce Sutphen
This was when my daughters were just children
playing on the rocky shore of the lake,
their hair in braids, their bright-colored jackets
tied around their waists. It was afternoon,
the shadows falling away, their faces
glowing with light. Whatever we said then
(and it must have been happy; it must have
been hopeful) is lost as I am now lost
from that life I lived. This was when nothing
that I wanted mattered, though all I wanted
was happiness, pure happiness, simple
as strawberries and cream in a saucer,
as curtains floating from a window sill,
as small pairs of shoes arranged in a row.
by Joyce Sutphen
This was when my daughters were just children
playing on the rocky shore of the lake,
their hair in braids, their bright-colored jackets
tied around their waists. It was afternoon,
the shadows falling away, their faces
glowing with light. Whatever we said then
(and it must have been happy; it must have
been hopeful) is lost as I am now lost
from that life I lived. This was when nothing
that I wanted mattered, though all I wanted
was happiness, pure happiness, simple
as strawberries and cream in a saucer,
as curtains floating from a window sill,
as small pairs of shoes arranged in a row.
Beautiful. Thanks for sharing this. Happy weekend!
ReplyDeletehappiness = strawberries and cream in a saucer?
ReplyDeletei could be happy with that.
I love the photo and the traces of regret over things that one did not know at the time could be lost to one. I'm having a considerable number of episodes of recognizing that type of loss these days.
ReplyDeleteI once took a photo of some egrets in a swamp and then posted the photo on my office wall with this comment (apologies to Frank Sinatra) "Egrets, I've had a few... but then again, too few to mention..."
ReplyDelete