Friday, February 13, 2009

"Otherwise"

I found this poem by Jane Kenyon in a book I'm reading The Last Gift of Time which is by Carolyn Heilbrun. Wanted to put it somewhere so I wouldn't forget which book:

I got out of bed
on two strong legs.
It might have been
otherwise. I ate
cereal, sweet
milk, ripe, flawless
peach. It might
have been otherwise.
I took a dog uphill
to the birch wood.
All morning I did
the work I love.
At noon I lay down
with my mate. It might
have been otherwise.
We ate dinner together
at a table with silver
candlesticks. It might
have been otherwise.
I slept in a bed
in a room with paintings
on the walls, and
planned another day
just like this day.
But one day, I know,
it will be otherwise.
Treasure each day. Thank God for every one of them.

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