And Now I See (A Poem)

"And Now I See"
by Virginia Knowles
August 2015

I reach for them the moment I awake
Lift them to my eyes so I can see my world.
I need this vision, these lenses
Without which I live in mist.

Yet an inner clarity I desire far more
A wisdom which grows within
And wakes my very soul
With a long and lovely light.

Each moment of courage and compassion
Each joy, sorrow, solitude brings
More and more focus each day
I open my soul, and now I see.

~*~*~

I originally thought of writing this poem while in the process of shopping for new and stronger eyeglasses. I am so thankful that someone once invented the optical lens! I would be so lost, and could not read without them!

But as I type the poem now from last week's longhand version, I think of my daughter Jo who starts grad school tomorrow for her master's degree in counseling. I smile every time I see "Courage, dear heart" - a phrase from C.S. Lewis - tattooed on her collar bone. She has been an avid reader since she was four, and I just got back from delivering a book case to her new apartment. She is also quite a world traveler. In the past several years she's been to 10 foreign countries: the Dominican Republic, Italy (for a few months), France, Monaco, the Vatican City, Australia (for a semester), New Zealand, United Kingdom, Ireland, and Iceland - all without me, but several with one of her older sisters. I confess I am simply jealous for her cultural and educational experiences. She opens her eyes and her soul, and I love to hear her perspective. So I think I'll just dedicate this little poem to her, 'K?

All the best to you, Jo! You'll rock grad school!

All the best to all the rest of you, too!

Let's see...

Grace and peace,

Virginia Knowles

P.S. Other poems of mine that you might like:

• Shimmer and Shadow
• This is Where I Am in Time
• Disentangle
• The Harp in the Willow
• Your Kindness Gave Me Courage
• Pilgrimage and Jubilee
• Lift Up Your Head and Laugh
• This Is My Song and I Sing
• Between the Seed and the Tree
• It Became to Me a Dark Thing
• Do Cry
• Over Utah in January
• In the Poet's Realm
• Rebound

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