Anything

Anything comes to me

like waves gently 

lapping in my soul, 

trickling silty sand 

through my fingers

directing the word flow gently.

Rounded pen point caressing the page.

Anything is an image

a flower,

a waterfall

Anything is a sound 

crashing, jangling

tiny, soft

Anything is a feeling

calmness,

rage,

excitement or

love

~~~~~

Anything is seldom nothing.

Except when so far in the distance

that only slight movement gives it away.

Anything's sound is buried in layers of far away.

Anything does not come when called,

only looks and stares

like a cat questioning

my audacity at calling its name.

Anything

curls up on my lap when I am sitting 

to dream 

to watch television

Anything

rains on my head when I’m in the shower

rises from garden soil clinging to roots and rocks

Anything 

drifts through my thoughts busy with the days tasks,

distracting me from the should’s and shouldn’t’s in front of me

Anything surrounds me

warm, cold or intemperate

waiting to be recognized.

Recognition will grow anything

into something.

“Let us not look back in anger, not forward in fear,

but around in awareness.”

~ James Thurber

**The first five lines were written as part of a workshop exercise about ‘anything’:  in group discussion following the reading, it was suggested that these lines ‘do not belong’ or ‘sound separate from’ the lines to follow. 

Nov.21, 2023: I recall the group meeting and the suggestion from the group discussion. I re-read this today and disagree with the group consensus. This has shown me how readers actually finish a piece of writing. I have included a line break today for clarity.