Joy is Cherry Blossoms in the Sun

 

Right here, right now, 
I am gazing at cherry blossoms.
The next-door dog is
rolling and rubbing himself
on the lawn, making us laugh,
reminding me of my own wolf-dog,
how he cracked me up every day,
how, at times, he tried so hard
to talk.

What is wisdom?
What is letting go?
the poet asks.
I ponder.

Now is the time for
long, slow days, sitting
in the sun remembering:
all the losses, all the gifts,
the hellos and the goodbyes.
How joyously we welcomed in
all of those highs,
how we mourned all the lows.
And yet what we were mourning
were the things that had brought us
the most happiness. So were they even
losses in the end?

Perhaps wisdom is
the letting go,
the acceptance of
Being Here Now.

I cast my mind back
through all the years,
plucking out this memory,
and that, like silver-backed salmon
from shining seas.

Truly, I am not counting losses
at all, but only gifts. Old age
is a time when we have let go
of the pain, remembering only
the joy.

Day 23

The italicized lines are from Barbie Joins a 12-Step Program by Denise Duhamel