If Just For A Moment

A poem to granting yourself permission in the name of rest and pleasure

Dearest Reader,

Grant yourself permission

If just for a moment

To set it all down

To walk away

To leave the dishes

The floors unswept

To let the grass grow long

To forget your phone

To let it go to voicemail

And leave messages unanswered

So you can set yourself free

To savor a slow meal

To be locked in good conversation while the hours slip by

To wander the orchard and climb every tree

To nap to the sounds of familiar conversation

To linger over a jigsaw puzzle while your beloved prepares breakfast

To lay your soft body onto the grass at the day’s end

To witness the brief magic of Golden Hour

To ramble to rocky beaches

To toss stones into the still waters

To push a young loved one into their first wave

Play a driftwood xylophone

And run gentle fingers along red cliff faces

To wander home salty and worn but loved

Grant yourself

If just for a moment