Enough

I do not
Read the newspaper
Any more
I read novels
And magazines
Recipes
And poems
I read clouds
And sunsets
Shadows
And snowflakes
I read bird prints
And tide-lines on the shore
The bark of trees
The patterns of pine needles
On the forest floor
I read peoples' faces
And hands
Their body language
And their eyes.

I do not listen
To newscasts
Any more
I listen to the wind
Swirling through the grasses
The waves as they come and go
Along the beach
I listen to the honking of geese
The quarreling of starlings
The cooing of mourning doves
I listen to the joyful sound of laughter
And the silent sound of tears
I listen to the sweetness
Of voices singing together
And the comforting sound
Of many hearts
Beating as one
For me
This is enough

Joanna Zarkadas, yourdailypoem.com, January 22, 2020