otherwise
Otherwise
I got out of bed
on two strong legs.
It might have been
otherwise. I ate
cereal, sweet
milk, ripe, flawless
peach. It might
have been otherwise.
I took the dog uphill
to the birch wood.
All morning I did
the work I love.
At noon I lay down
with my mate. It might
have been otherwise.
We ate dinner together
at a table with silver
candlesticks. It might
have been otherwise.
I slept in a bed
in a room with paintings
on the walls, and
planned another day
just like this day.
But one day, I know,
it will be otherwise.
— Jane Kenyon
i love this poem. it's in an anthology that i often have beside me, Staying Alive, a gift from Marion some years ago. i think i wish the last two lines weren't there. i wish she simply left as abruptly after planned another day just like this day, as the day will, instead of warning us.
ReplyDeletethese photographs are not just photographs. they're metaphors, of course, the world translated, and windows into your world.
xo
erin