Jessica Lowenstein

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Sit Still

1

 If we sit still long enough

we start to see things.

New things of course

but also details that have always been there

unnoticed

overlooked.

 

Like the way the fuchsia bougainvillea

runs up the side of the house,

its new buds almost the same color

as the flowers themselves,

or the way the furry foxtails sway

in the gentle breeze,

not resisting

but flowing freeing.

 

2

 If how we spend our days

is how we spend our lives,

then right now

my life is about looking,

resting,

seeing what is there.

Not what I want to be there,

or what I imagine to be there,

but what is actually there.

 

3

 A lizard scurries

across the warm rocks

soaking up the late afternoon sun;

two young deer graze in the yard

enjoying the last tender sprouts of spring.

At dusk

a lone bobcat appears

traversing the dry hillside, 

scanning for prey.

 

I watch until it’s too dark to see.