Waxing Poetic for My 40th Birthday

Sunshine on My Shoulders
So, my other blog is supposed to be all about knitting and I felt conflicted when I would want to just write. So, here I will just write. I will post my poems, my photos that have nothing to do with knitting and maybe I'll relax and do a better job at updating and enjoying my blog. The name comes from the song by John Denver that still makes me feel warm and safe and happy. It was part of the soundtrack of my childhood and hearing it gives me a physical sensation of everything being all right. As I strive to be an optimist in spite of my perfectionistic, negative, uptight tendencies, this will help remind me. My 40th birthday was last Wednesday the 23rd, and it passed me by quietly and gently. I worked on my personal history, wrote letters to my kids, and made a musical retrospective of my life. That was fun. The next night I had a party for my other 40is girlfriends, most of whom I've known for the majority of my married life, or at least since we've lived here. It was a quiet party with chatting about real life with real women that I love. It was the perfect way to celebrate being 40.

Significance

today. a milestone
many call significant.
is it the sign I have arrived
somewhere?
finished something?
or is it just a single grain of time
from among inummerable sands-
no more precious
than any other?
I would sing about
ordinary days
gotten through with
ordinary grace
and not mark time
as though i am only
waiting.
I was already somewhere
yesterday,
and today I am here.
tomorrow's
significance will happen simply
because I will be there.