Days
...
Through the calm eye of the window
everything is in its place
but so precariously
this day might be resting somehow
on the one before it,
all the days of the past stacked high
like the impossible tower of dishes
entertainers used to build on stage.
No wonder you find yourself
perched on the top of a tall ladder
hoping to add one more.
Just another Wednesday
you whisper,
then holding your breath,
place this cup on yesterday’s saucer
without the slightest clink.
In a recent sermon, Lauren Smith talked about rejoicing in each day. She used the above scripture and the Billy Collins poem "Days." Since hearing her sermon, and this poem, I've thought frequently about each day and the stack of dishes analogy.When we are young, we tend to stack those dishes without a whole lot of thought. We have confidence in the abundance of days, and dishes. We place each day on top of the previous one. The stack might be well organized and balanced - or it could be somewhat haphazard - depends on the course of our lives. With the confidence of youth, and confidence in a lot of dishes to build our stack, we keep building. Sometimes a life event such as death of a loved one, an illness, or a job emergency comes along and causes our stack to wobble and maybe come crashing down. But most of the time we continue along, putting each day on top of the previous one.
As we age, we become much more aware of the decreasing number of dishes to put on that tower. We "whisper" for one more year, or month, or day and we become more aware of how those plates are placed on top of each other - more aware of balance and doing what is necessary to keep the stack growing in a stable way.
I do rejoice in the days I have been given.
For copyright considerations I have not included the entire poem.
Click here for the complete poem.
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