Patterns and surprise—poem
4 hats, an old trophy, and a very old certificate
Patterns and surprise
(This is the poem that I read and talk about in Episode 8 of my podcast, How To Be Old)
Poets love patterns and surprise
and I get both each morning
a routine and a shock.
I wake at six and think some thoughts
excitement rising all the while
(I woke up! I get to live another day!)
and meditate and feed the cat.
I celebrate routines and rituals
and habits and models and clocks.
Outside now in my bare feet
under a sky that’s a child with a secret
that won’t be a secret for long
I do t’ai chi in the same old place
in a world that is new every day
(is it frosty is it misty is it rainy is it fine?
Am I in South Georgia or Geneva or Fiji?)
Surprise! Surprise! It’s a brand new day.
And when I’m finished I swallow the sky
and I say, “Good morning world.
I am still with you!”
or “Thank you for having me!”
or “What can I do for you today?”
Rachel McAlpine (c) 2019
A feral ngaio tree in a pot in flower: what patterns, what a surprise!
Inspiring poem.
What a lovely poem! as Sadje said: Inspiring. Thanks for sharing it with us.
I love knowing that you have read and appreciated it. Thank you!
Beautiful. I am grateful to be alive 🙂
Lucky lucky us!
Lovely. And how surprised and delighted I would be to find a feral ngaio in my garden.
Thank you. Growing up in Canterbury I didn’t know these lovely trees until midlife. Their spotty leaves, their secret flowers, their globular mass!