Almost a Conversation

What I forgot to say is what I don’t want to say,
Namely, that I know the weather is changing,
The climate is shifting,
The days growing warmer,
The rains staying away longer,
And I feel helpless,
Even, sometimes, hopeless.

I forgot to say how much I love all the little places of the world,
And how I want to hold and protect them,
The way I saw the duck mother protect her ducklings
By keeping them close and squawking, “Danger!” and “Not so far.”

I forgot to mention the skunk I stumbled into yesterday.
Or did he stumble into me?
It was mutual, I think.
Then he scurried allong one side of the creek,
And I scurried along the other side.
I delighted to be his companion for a moment,
Grateful he didn’t share his perfume with me.

I forgot the mention the tremendous V of birds
My daughter Sophia and I spied this morning
Gliding slowly over La Laguna de Santa Rosa.
What are those? she asked.
I don’t know, I said. Geese? Or are they white pelicans?
Do pelicans fly in V’s like that? she asked.
I don’t know, I said.

I forgot to say how much I don’t know,
And that I think I’m okay with not knowing
Most of what there is to be known,
Like what will happen to my daughter
When the rains stop for good,
Or when they start and never end,
Or why it is that today a V of pelicans
Made us both stop and stare and wonder
What kind of glorious world this is
That we have been given to inhabit,
If only for a time.