​​​​​​​​Just A Sheet of Transparent Glass

The tiny tyke performs
that ritual every morning
at the same hour.
Happily he runs
and takes his spot.
With a beaming face,
he looks out
through a frame.
The sight of boys and girls
climbing onto the school bus
gives him boundless joy!
He waves at them
without a care in the world,
whether he is seen or not.
Does he know?
That he will be
in their footsteps someday?
What dreams dwell
in his innocent mind?
No one knows.

**********

She would never trade
that small room
for the largest space in the house.
It is her haven,
her safe retreat.
In the early hours,
golden rays filter in,
and she opens the blinds
to take her first peek outside.
Through the hours she watches
the day roll by.
People stroll along the streets
to get a breath of fresh air,
to walk their dogs
while others drive to work.
As afternoon sets in,
children run and play.
They remind her of her own,
when, with beads of sweat
streaming down their faces,
they had come to her
either for that cool drink
or to nurse a bruised knee.
She senses how
the time has flown by.
In her octogenarian years,
she relives the life
she once lived
with love, smiles,
and gratitude galore!

**********

The gentle puffs and whistles
do not fill my ears.
I board the train
that smoothly glides
along the tracks.
It takes me through a land
I had never wandered in before.
My gaze softens
as I behold the distant scene
that mesmerizes me.
I see the lush green hills,
the snow-capped peaks,
the azure blue skies,
the cows grazing in the meadows,
and the cottages
that look like toy houses.
All paint a picture
of paradise on earth.
It is an unknown land,
so far from mine.
I wonder how
the people in those homes
live and talk, what they do,
how they spend their days.
I envision folks
sharing laughter over a hearty meal,
being one in each other’s joy.
Perhaps in many a house,
there is someone like me,
in the threshold of her sixties,
spreading the warmth
of maternal love.
I smile to myself,
amused by the thoughts
that wander with the train.

**********

In our own spaces,
do we all lose ourselves
in the magic of the moment?
To warm our hearts,
weave our stories,
take a flight of imagination,
reminisce and walk down memory lane?
Some quiet ecstasy,
so surreal,
gently descends upon us all.
Through just a sheet of transparent glass.