Day 11
Friends,
I continue to be blown away by your poems! Thank you for sharing with me, and those of you who aren’t sharing here but are on your own poetry journey, I’m holding space for you, thinking of you, so grateful for you.
Sometimes poetry unlocks something huge in us, and sometimes poetry helps us chip away at a problem or a question. It’s so versatile like that.
Today’s prompt is a word I love—curiosity.
I can’t wait to read your words!
As young children, we are told
to be curious—
touch this!
ask questions!
wonder how it works!
discover every possibility!
So, we touch it,
we ask
we wonder
we discover,
and all of the sudden we are told
to stop being curious
because the time for checkbooks
and stock market value has arrived.
Now, we trade curiosity for assurance.
We become wise in the world,
or cynical—realists,
never curious, though—
no, we’ve outgrown that.
As adults, some of us return
to the childlike ways,
but it’s hard.
It makes us look weak
in a world of checkbooks and stock markets.
We look weak
if we marvel at an anthill,
or sit beneath a wise tree,
or cry over a bouquet of flowers,
or dance in the rain.
As adults, we find our curiosity
hidden where the child in us
is hidden—
behind all those questions,
behind the pressure to become an adult
too soon or
too fast.
We find the child in us, and they hand us
a small box, and when we open it
sparks fly
and we try to grab them
as they turn to butterflies
and lead us
gently,
quietly,
proudly,
home.
Curiosity
Instead of “Don’t touch that!!”
Why not “Be gentle”
For if we never touched, we would never get to experience
The smoothness of a glass figurine
The flames of a campfire
The feathery petals of a tulip
The damp skin of an earthworm
The brittle pages of an old book
The pigment of a painting
Our skin is our largest organ in which we sense the world
So, if it does no harm
Reach
Out
And
Feel the world
((Be gentle with it))
My three year old
wants to build with every type of block,
wants to dig in every inch of sandbox,
wants to feel slime in between every finger,
wants to create in every medium,
wants to befriend every being,
wants to fly.
My ten month old
wants to taste every food,
wants to explore every inch of the house,
wants to dance to every kind of music,
wants to feel every new texture,
wants to move every second of the day,
wants to walk.
I watch them and remember what it's like
to experience everything for the first time,
to chase everything that is joyful,
to be in awe of everything,
to want to share every discovery,
to turn over every stone,
to be curious.