Yesterday I took a walk,
And passed between the changing trees,
Their leaves were clinging
With final breaths of life,
Some had fallen, given up,
Waiting to be dust on the forest floor.
But I paid no mind to nature’s course;
My thoughts were focused on useless things.
I walked right past a breathless sight:
A family of deer
Sipping from a flowing stream.
But next week’s pay and due dates flashed,
And I passed right by their frightened dash.
Then, far to my right, two bunnies played,
But I missed that too,
And trampled blindly on.
High above me, in the thinning trees,
A white-furred squirrel hoped from branch to branch,
He jumped right above me for half a mile,
But I never looked up,
Was never caused to smile.
These I missed,
But there were others as well:
A high-flying eagle, a swift-moving fox,
But my mind was circling all those useless things,
Things that worrying never quite solves.
And as I think back on yesterday
To my long, stewing walk,
I regret not stopping
And looking around,
At the beauty of nature
And the joy to be found.
And, in reality,
All those things never happened:
The jumping squirrel,
The playing rabbits,
Or the drinking deer,
And I won’t go back today,
In case they aren’t there,
But I’ll imagine they are,
And that I saw them for real,
So one day they’ll be memories,
And give me something to feel.