About My Memoir

In a time of butterflies
and bluebirds, when the moon sifts
the dark sands of the night,
and the sun simmers
in the sky’s hot hand, I dream
of cool sheets, the soft sigh
of a black kitten warm in my arms,
and time to listen
for the wisdom hiding beneath
the blue waters of silence.
There is so much to unlearn
in this world, a daily practice
as daring as the desire
to untangle the milky lace
of a meadow parsnip.
The greatest gift I give
to myself is to live each day
as if I have no past—
that musty book of names
and dates begging to be buried,
a burden I no longer carry.
This morning, in the darkness
before dawn, a rowdy congregation
of Canada geese honked
across the house, turning
every furry head in the room.
Let it be said that I lived my life
in the moment with no regrets,
light as the wind-flutter
of a butterfly or a bluebird,
my wings cluttered
with nothing but love
and the golden shimmer-dust
of the sun.

–Laura Stamps