Slice #3: Journal and Journeys, an Ode

“20th century Spanish abstract art painter Joan Miro’s masterpiece with blue backgorund and minimalist black line and red dot abstract shapes.”

 

My children are growing up. My eldest daughter is graduating from college, joining the education realm. My son is graduating from high school, taking his first solo step into the “real world” while we live a half world away, and my youngest continues navigating her way through the ambiguity of middle school.

With moments of their childhood still fresh, I worry about and admire the journeys that lay ahead of them.

Journey and journal come from the same root, Latin dies, meaning “day.” The days of my children have left indelible impressions on my heart. Leafing through the pages of their days, reminiscing, I realize a new beginning is about to start…

Ode to Journals

My shelf

occupied with journals,

mid-way,

half-point,

life is

filled

like

a

journal,

its pages

cradling

the stories within.

 

In March,

with reckless abandon

the journal

near full,

taunts me…

in mirrors,

in an emptying home,

with fading memories.

It consumes

my thoughts with

lost opportunities and regrets.

 

Urgently, I must

begin again:

the pen

permeates

the page

inky,

breathless,

a new

story,

heartfelt,

infinite,

takes up residence

in the emptiness

of life.

 

And, on

the shelf, at the precipice

of life,

the journal,

caretaker of history,

displays

its dreams,

its faith,

its hope,

and endless possibilities

no fear,

no hesitations,

no questions or regrets

the journal bestows

its beauty

of life

and the human condition.

 

Today’s inspiration springs from the famous Chilean poet, Pablo Neruda’s, odes.