A SIMPLE POEM I AM WRITING

I WALK AT NIGHT IN EAST VAN
by Bobbi

I walked and walked
to restore my sense of self
after losing bits of it all over the place
in meetings
in teeth cleanings
in my windowless office

I walked and walked
in the spitting rain
to the sanctuary of coffee
I watch the community
come and go
all alone or meeting friends
sipping loudly or just
sipping

I walked and walked
to the Main Plant store
though it wasn’t in my plan
I met a man who loves his plants
and sold me a Peace Lily to clean
the air of the toxins I pick up in the day
all day
and that hide deep in the furniture
and creep out late at night

I walk and walk
breathe deep
keep my mind on the words
I read
by Thomas Merton
one of my new book friends,
a contemplative:

“Every moment
and every event
of every man’s life on
earth plants something
in his soul.
For just as wind carries
thousands of winged seeds, so each moment
brings with it germs of spiritual
vitality that come to rest imperceptibly in
the minds and wills of men.
Most of them unnumbered seeds
perish and are
lost,
because men are not prepared to
receive them:
for such seeds as these cannot spring up
anywhere except in the good soil
of freedom,
spontaneity
and love.”