Vulnerable is not an easy word for me. Perhaps that’s why I skipped writing yesterday. I love the quote on our dictionary page 97, “…to grow up is to accept vulnerability. To be alive is to be vulnerable.” (Madeleine L’Engle) I have grown in this area from childhood when I tried to be “cute at all costs.” My husband is a good role model of vulnerability, and I have had the privilege of living with him for 39 years. So, today I’m trying to listen and learn and take down my guard.
The quote on the Listen page, “Even the silence has a story to tell you. Just listen. Listen” from Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson. It reminded me of how I am paying close attention to my sweet baby grandson. This is a tricube poem.
Milo
I’ll listen
to you tell
your stories.
Right now they
come in smiles
goos and gahs
A treasure
you are, gift
to the world
During each day in the months of August and September, I am responding to a different word from Dictionary for a Better World: Poems, Quotes, and Anecdotes from A to Z by Irene Latham and Charles Waters, illustrated by Mehrdokht Amini. Yesterday’s word was Vulnerable. Today’s word is Listen. A small group of people wanting to make the world a better place are reading and responding together. Join us! Visit Common Threads: Patchwork Prose and Verse by Kim Haynes Johnson for more information. Here is the word list I’ll be following for August and September.