Poetry Friday - A Gift

        Catherine Flynn at Reading to the Core is hosting this terrific beginning to our Poetry Friday new year! And she begins with a review of the wonderful new poetry book by Charles Waters and Irene Latham, Can I Touch Your Hair? Poems of Race, Mistakes, and Friendship. I have read it, and purchased another copy for the granddaughters, looking forward to sharing and giving it to them when they visit. Thanks, Catherine!
       Hoping all who are being deluged by this superstorm Grayson are safe inside, have power, and will not have too much trouble during and after. 

          Thanks to Tabatha Yeatts at The Opposite of Indifference for her idea created these past years of poem swaps, summer and winter, and a little more to send--and receive. After this holiday time of gift-giving, during a quieter week, finding a small box in the mailbox that is just for me feels like the exclamation point of the last word of the final paragraph of a book.The End! And it is a special ending, my swapper, Leigh Anne Eck, at A Day In The Life, created.

        Here is a picture of my wonderful gifts: a beautifully crafted pencil pack and bookmark from a business run entirely by volunteers who empower those caught in human trafficking by selling their creations. It's called The Faith Store, and is run by a local church. (FYI - I previously shared a link, but Leigh Anne told me it is "not" the same store. This one has no online presence.)
        The quote is one to remember: “If you think you are too small to make a difference, you haven’t spent the night with a mosquito.”                African proverb

There is also one of those sweet quote magnets, and Leigh Anne has created my poem and placed it as a magnet! I am happy to be able to keep both of these close, on the refrigerator of course, to read and see often! Thank you, Leigh Anne for ending my holidays and starting the new year so wonderfully.

Here's the poem:

Where might I find you?

Maybe at the bookstore

            sharing your passion while

            meandering between the shelves

            meeting new people

            _hearing their stories,

Or maybe at the ocean

            walking the beach with loved ones while

            collecting shells

            taking in sunsets

            soaking in the sea

            _finding memories in the grains of sand,

Or maybe with family

            finding beauty in the people in your life while

            celebrating Grandma day

            playing with Ingrid and Imi

            _cherishing memories,

Or maybe at home

            writing a slice while

            reading a book

            visiting your neighborhood

            noticing nature

            _dancing with words

Or maybe..

            creating joy for those around you

            and for those of us far away

is where I might find you.

©Leigh Anne Eck, 2017