Whew!

As Useful
April 30, 2008

I like to think of myself as useful.
I can cook a meal, wash a dish –
even swing a hammer if I have to.
I’m a good friend, a good listener,
an adequate scrabble partner,
and I’ll play (off) rhythm guitar
if you’ll play lead.

But for the past seven days
I have been greeted every morning
by a slowly blooming azalea,
shyly uncurling her petals,
coyly dressing green limbs in pink.
For another seven days, she will
dance like a sunset and then fade.
Yes, she neither works nor spins,
and I’ll do even less. I will be a
witness, nothing more.

Every morning for the last seven days,
and every morning for the next seven,
I will be reminded that, useful though
I may be, I am certainly not essential.