Retrospect
Sure.
Looking back,
you tell yourself,
you would have done things differently.
You should have tried harder,
been more patient.
You could have done more.
But retrospect
is an observation tower
you run into along the trail.
You climb the wooden ladder
and there is a convenient pair
of binoculars
mounted at the window.
You look through them
and locate the path you walked
and there is your younger self
way off on the horizon.
It all looks so lovely from here-
the lighting is so soft,
the fields so golden,
that you ask yourself,
“Why didn’t I do better?”
But what you can’t see from here
are the stones that you tripped over,
the content and weight
of that pack you carried.
Or the mosquitoes.
And you can’t,
for the life of you,
remember why you were so paralyzed
with the fear of not knowing
what lay ahead.
So, you step away
from the binoculars,
descend the ladder
and keep walking forward
into the unknown,
equipped now with experience
and knowledge gained
from all that past
behind you.
By Maria Brady-Smith
Photo by Mike Smith
Happy Sunday morning! Well, if you read last week’s post, you can see that the thought I had about the past (i.e. there is so much of it now that that I am older) did evolve into a poem. I just never really know, which is what I love so much about writing poetry. It is kind of mysterious how these ideas come. I just make myself available by writing and writing and eventually, a poem begins to appear. Then I write and write some more to understand it and find the right words and place them where they belong in the poem. Plus, as you can tell from this poem, I spend a lot of time walking at the Shaw Nature Reserve, one of my favorite places on earth.
I hope you have a week full of beautiful mysteries. Thank you for reading and sharing.
I LOVE this! ❤️ This older journey has a way of my turning and reflecting on the past so often wondering ” why did I do that?” Or “what was I thinking?” — wish I had more courage at times– your poem reflects that. And can see the trail at Shaw Reserve. Thanks!!
Maria, love the observation tower view and perspective. Isn’t that what we all wanted in our youth? Thank god we had to wait to see it. Love your poetic reflections and your description about the writing process. Namaste.
Same to you Maria, this one was especially important. Thank you.
Wonderfully descriptive imagery.
I love this, Maria! So true