Just one more

“Here is a beautiful pinecone, even though it’s a little squished

And that big big dandelion begs to come home with me.

This would be a good stick for swatting ants

And I will take another just in case it breaks.

Here is a pine swishy thing that looks so pretty and feels so soft.

Can you carry some, Mommy?”

Here is a turned-up nose with three freckles on it, tipped toward my face

And here is a child I love.

This is the prettiest day we share, and the wind is soft. I’ll take it along.

I’ll gather the sunshine in one hand

And tuck my pinkie finger around this glorious April, so radiant.

My hands are full, Lord. I want just one more thing.

“Oh look, Mommy, there’s a pond here.

Do you want a violet to eat? I might have to put down some things

But maybe if I just pinch the leaf under my arm

And put the pebble in my pocket, because it has those twinkles in it…

Now I can take a clump of these too, what are they? Bluets?

And still I can hold the sumac.”

I tease her that she might as well take the world. Should we

Scoop up the lake, gather the whole green woods?

Does she want the clear sky and the row of tulips? But I

Am not so different. I want the rich textured trunk where the bark has fallen away

And left the pathways of a thousand hidden things.

I want to fill my hands with the luxuriant smell of the earth.

Here are the eggs my son gathers and lines up for breakfast

And this is a gift baked with love, filled with warm chocolate chips.

I treasure the pucker of a baby’s lip, a leisurely drive with my teen, and

The smile on a growing girl’s face when she did a good job.

I gather one more hug, one morning when we wake up healthy, and

Three more recipes to try. I brush my fingers over his skin.

I want another day in my own home, waking up to the coffee he brewed

I collect my children’s voices, their bickering and jokes around the supper table.

Here is a memory I will keep, and a color that makes meaning of the universe.

I want one more May and the planting of seeds, I ache for the silken end of a ponytail and

A new cup of tea with a friend. I want what I have

A world full of treasures, brimming, too many to carry home.