ENDLESS BEGINNINGS by Margaret Vidale

I first attended a Unitarian Church when I moved to Boston…

It was in 1965 when I was studying Early Childhood Education. There was a Unitarian Church just a few blocks away, which I decided to explore. I was very comfortable with the idea that all religions based on love hold a part of God's truth, but no one religion holds it all.

I believe Divine Truth is so vast and complex, human minds are not capable of grasping it in its entirety. But we do catch glimpses of it working around us. I believe I saw such a glimpse when I looked out my window one spring morning.

Endless Beginnings

Mid-April sunshine floods the neighborhood

I stand at my front window, sipping

a cup of chamomile tea, taking

a break from the basement clutter

I can see my husband and our grandson

returning home

their feet swinging in unison

small fingers disappearing into large

They stop to examine the delicate buds

on a gnarled, Bing cherry tree

My husband’s lips move in explanation

each word absorbed as revelation

Over forty years ago, my

bridal bouquet was a burst of

cherry blossoms, the lacey abundance

of spring’s return, a fragrant

promise of endless beginnings

Wearing short-sleeve shirts and khaki pants

grandfather and grandson

smile the same smile

and all the afternoon glow

is an extension of their pleasure

I hadn’t expected to see such happiness

when I looked out my window

two souls journeying

each bringing exactly what

the other had been yearning for

~

(This poem was previously published in Avocet, a Journal of Nature Poetry)

Margaret Vidale returned to her childhood love of writing poetry when she retired from teaching in 2001. Growing up, reading and writing poetry were ways of escaping sever child abuse. Many of her early adult poems were efforts to break the silence she carried for most of her life. Writing those poems was healing and liberating, which enabled Margaret to branch out into a wider range of subjects. She feels fortunate and grateful that some of her work has appeared in Pearl, Solstice, Sol-Lit, The Whirlwind Review, Avocet, The Caribbean Writer, Still Crazy and other small publications.

*For submission guidelines, click here.*

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