This morning was something. A little snow <br />lay on the ground. The sun floated in a clear <br />blue sky. The sea was blue, and blue-green, <br />as far as the eye could see. <br />Scarcely a ripple. Calm. I dressed and went <br />for a walk -- determined not to return <br />until I took in what Nature had to offer. <br />I passed close to some old, bent-over trees. <br />Crossed a field strewn with rocks <br />where snow had drifted. Kept going <br />until I reached the bluff. <br />Where I gazed at the sea, and the sky, and <br />the gulls wheeling over the white beach <br />far below. All lovely. All bathed in a pure <br />cold light. But, as usual, my thoughts <br />began to wander. I had to will <br />myself to see what I was seeing <br />and nothing else. I had to tell myself this is what <br />mattered, not the other. (And I did see it, <br />for a minute or two!) For a minute or two <br />it crowded out the usual musings on <br />what was right, and what was wrong -- duty, <br />tender memories, thoughts of death, how I should treat <br />with my former wife. All the things <br />I hoped would go away this morning. <br />The stuff I live with every day. What <br />I've trampled on in order to stay alive. <br />But for a minute or two I did forget <br />myself and everything else. I know I did. <br />For when I turned back i didn't know <br />where I was. Until some birds rose up <br />from the gnarled trees. And flew <br />in the direction I needed to be going. <br /> <br /> <br />Anonymous submission.<br /><br />Raymond Carver<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/this-morning/
