What Happened?

I wrote a poem. More accurately, I’ve decided the poem was written through me. I never even thought about writing a poem. I enjoy reading poetry but I’ve never studied poetry. I don’t really know what makes a poem a poem in the first place. What happened?

I took my first bicycle ride of the season on Saturday morning. The weather was perfect. I could tell my legs were not as strong as when I was riding more consistently. So, my pace was a bit slower. Part of my ride was through Halyburton Park. I looked around at the new growth happening in the woods and how the sunlight was playing on all the different colors of green.

This line came to me…it appeared in my consciousness. I saw the carpet come alive today. What? It stuck in my mind. I thought, I need to write that down when I get home. Most of the time when I say this to myself, by the time I get home I’ve totally forgotten…not only the words but that I even had the thought to begin with!

This time I remembered. I sat down and this is what happened:

I saw the carpet come alive today
In the park near my house.
Ferns and berry bushes and probably poison ivy too.

A mosaic of light shimmering across
Too many colors of green to name.
I looked around to see if anyone else noticed.

It doesn’t really matter, I thought.
It was a miracle to me
The way the earth reveals its beauty without hesitation.

Humbled
Paula