I Had Forgotten How to Live — a poem

“Bird” by CollegeRocker is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

I Had Forgotten How to Live

By Jane Tawel

March 12, 2020

*

I had, too long, forgotten how to live.

And letting Time control my thoughts,

And taking more than I could give,

I had forgotten what I aught

pay heed to more than I should not.

*

And then one day while waiting

And slow-drip coffee, hating,

I stood beside my own back door

And heard a bird song, me, implore,

to stop and listen, look, and find,

because to beauty, I’d been blind.

*

There, just there, in my back yard,

Were little birds, like crossing guards,

Directing me to safety in,

The joy that could be found within,

The world at large, and lives at small,

If I would simply sense it all.

*

I think I hadn’t really lived,

Or taken time to sense and breathe,