America mourns the loss of President Jimmy Carter and celebrates one hell of a life lived. I’ve been reading his poetry this week and came upon this quote: “being president is as difficult as writing the perfect poem.” If only all leaders were poets.
I’ll never figure out my part
in praying. How to even start.
Like the silent heron that lands
mid-scroll in the year’s low pond, I stand
waiting. Who said there were fish here?
A father & son are having
a water balloon fight.
They invite me to join,
but I’ve got the skittish dog
w/ me, the one who took
a good six years to trust us.
What if a new year dawns & I don’t change?
Each January finds me as I was:
still moribund, still sensitive & strange.
Image: “Paradigm Shift” by Morgan Reed. “After Rain” was written by Michael Pfeifer for Rattle’s Ekphrastic Challenge, December 2024, and selected as the Editor’s Choice.