Breathing Exercise

some days breath

comes shallow and quick,

short, sharp hiss of inhale

no time to savour the sweet

scent of snow, fresh January air

cs Jan. 14 2013

Speeding

days pass in a flurry of hurry

one thing after another. I tell myself

I cannot do this, I need to slow down

find time for the very small.

cs Jan. 15, 2013

Cruise Control

each small stone a pebble of

mindfulness, a minute not spent

on the auto-pilot path of day-to-day.

when I don’t find the time, I’m

not being kind to my mind.

cs Jan. 16, 2013

Why Can’t I Slow Down?

some days I think I lack the gene

for mindfulness, the ability

to keep life simple, to walk

to the beat of life, instead of rushing

down the busy highway, intent

accelerating headlong toward chaos.

cs Jan. 17, 2013

Leaning Tower

If I move one thing on the desk

it will all tumble to the floor, this heap

of paper, documents of distress and worry

just another task I have no time for

cs Jan. 18, 2013

Clockwork

 When I can’t reach the top shelf, or

bend to peer beneath another for

the soft pink ball my cat bats too far

when I huff and puff along, wheezing

like an old and rusty steam engine,

when the freckles on my face begin

to merge together, blending edges,

I look up at the clock, the steady tock

towards midnight, another night, another day,

each tick marking the passing years,

just like clockwork.

cs Jan. 19, 2013

Sundays

 Quiet days to start a new week,

a peek at what’s coming up in town

a look back at the week just ended.

The grind of things that must be done

not yet begun. Giving them voice in

their own small stones passes the burden.

Let them sit, granite-faced and cold.

Stones have nothing else to do but wait.

Let them do the worrying.

cs  Jan. 20, 2013

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• Small Stones for Jan. 2 through 4 2013 (quillfyre.wordpress.com)
• Small Stones for January (quillfyre.wordpress.com)
• Small Stones for Friday, Saturday and Sunday (quillfyre.wordpress.com)
• A Month of Mindful Writing (mlissabeth.wordpress.com)