Some days are just like the rest. The chores, the errands, the work and little details of nothingness that someone can’t live without. But what happens when a little glimpse of something else sneaks into your head, through all that busy stuff? A flash of an image that just doesn’t seem to belong but it is too enchanting to ignore. This happened to me in early March as I spent the afternoon pushing many piles of paper around my desk. The words “I saw you today out of the corner of my eye” just amplified in a loud but pleasant voice. I couldn’t ignore it. I scribbled the words on a little scrap of paper and added it to one of the piles. It snuggled its way into the folds, not to be revealed again until Easter weekend. And eventually these words spilled into a poem, leading the first stanza. I am not a poet. I am not a writer. But a feeling compelled me to seize the day and do something completely different. Just live in the moment. Live in the heart.
I SAW YOU TODAY OUT OF THE CORNER OF MY EYE
I saw you today out of the corner of my eye,
strolling the market and discerning the bounty.
You would graze your hand over the colourful foods,
gauging their scents for your next great creation.
I watched very quietly, wanting to approach you.
I longed for your friendship that has faded to past.
Your dark eyes glistened and would dance with sly laughter
and your black hair flirted round the strength of your jaw.
We once talked like sisters about our uncertainties
on how to raise children in these fast moving times.
But our lives have been keeping us so far apart
where I can remember they were once intertwined.
The time that has past holds so many dark secrets
which might just explain our drifting connection.
I know you know lonely since you’ve been there before.
But do you know my lonely? I think it’s the same.
You snatch up a garlic and a basket of romas,
a fresh bunch of basil and some wild pungent onions.
Oh to be at your table tonight for this banquet
For that intimate moment breaking bread with close friends.
