A Memory of Today

Victoria Park, Regina, Saskatchewan

The heat offered me a bench in the park, 

a breeze at my back and 

a lingering summer day. 

Once more the calendar 

had been challenged by 

the shifting weather.  

Two errands completed, 

each with a good stroll between 

with a stop for lunch and tea. 

Businessmen and women, shoppers, 

and teens that should have been in school

walked and strolled, laughed and talked, 

read a book or just enjoyed the shaded sun 

for what has become a memory of today. 

“In solitude we give passionate attention to our lives, 

to our memories, to the details around us.”

~ Virginia Woolf, writer

(1882 ~ 1941)

Sister Visit

 

Sisters

Laughing 

Stories told

Visiting

Sisters

“A sister is a little bit of childhood that can never be lost.”

~ Marion C. Garretty, 

20th Century American poet

Without a Map

 

Yesterday vanished into memory, 

   today ~ a birthday delight with family,

     tomorrow is an open, uncharted road.

“I have gone into yesterday and tomorrow 

and both were a real as today ~ 

which is like the dreams of ghosts!”

~ Robert E. Howard, author

(1906 ~ 1936)

Small Steps and Choices

Entertaining choices:  

not all that entertaining 

when seen as drudgery or 

maybe challenging to the soul. 

Both involve a deep breath but 

that’s where the similarity ends. 

Housework chores are visible 

~ have a beginning and an end. 

Fears, nervousness, anxieties 

creep in slowly, silently 

Colouring today, tomorrow and 

yesterday in shades of darkness 

that can’t be washed away until 

tiny fragments of courage and hope

allow small steps and choices 

to blossom and brighten each moment.

“May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears.”

~ Nelson Mandela

(1918 ~ 2013)

That Real World

All of my tomorrows 

have yet to come 

I can plan, 

           wish, 

   

               hope, 

      

     make my lists 

but I’ll only know tomorrow 

  

  when it no longer has that name 

     

    when it has crept into today and 

we awake to our choices in that real world.

“Reality is merely a illusion, albeit a very persistent one.”

~ Albert Einstein

All of Life

All of life is 

   to prepare

     to anticipate 

without sitting on the edge 

but being aware 

that life could be ruled 

by others 

  ~ people or situations ~ 

a naive thought, 

   yet one that offers

 strength and courage to choose the life that is given. 

Today will shape tomorrow, 

  and leave an interesting path 

through the yesterdays of life.

“We may run, walk, stumble, drive or fly, but let us never lose sight 

of the reason of the journey or miss a chance to see a rainbow on the way.”

~ Gloria Gaither, songwriter

Into the Green Grass

When I let my thoughts

roam free

some wander into tomorrow 

~ into the green grass 

of a nebulous future,

feeling my mind’s toes curling

into that distant moist wet grass 

with a longing 

that pulls me away from today.

“You must give everything to make your life as beautiful 

as the dreams that dance in your imagination.”

~ Roman Payne, novelist and poet

Once a Tomorrow

A wide open door 

birds fill the trees 

with chirps and song

a dog barks in the neighbourhood

a car shushes past 

Fernando plays on the radio 

backed by gentle strum of a lute 

the aroma of barbecue drifts

trees wave in the wind 

clouds ride high and thin ~

today was once a tomorrow.

“Finish each day and be done with it. 

You have done what you could. 

Learn from it… tomorrow is a new day.”

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson, essayist

(1803 ~1882)

A Whisper of Hope

 

Tomorrow is a day 

I will never have to remember 

for when the stars welcome it

with that gossamer shift 

from tomorrow to today, there is 

a whisper of hope for the future.

“If you’ve got a today, don’t wear it tomorrow. 

Tomorrow never happens it’s all the same day.”

~ Janis Joplin, singer

(1943 - 1970)

Always a Risk

Prairie Garden 
Royal Saskatchewan Museum 

 

Running toward tomorrow 

always risks 

losing out on today.

Go fast enough to get there, but slow enough to see.”

~ Jimmy Buffett, singer, songwriter

This is A Moment

This is a moment when 

memories tug at my heart 

begging me to tell their stories. 

Stories of the first day 

trying to ride a bicycle, 

of all dressed up for 

the first day of school, 

of the brick wall of that 

school where we bounced

rubber balls with white, blue and red

raced each other on 

a sliver filled teeter totter

Skipping ropes - Double Dutch so much fun!

Hop Scotch on the sidewalk at recess

Swinging on seat polished swings

Each of these moments 

of fun tucked away in my 

heart for a moment for story.

“As long as there are memories, yesterday remains.”

~ Billy Joel