Open

Since I started to think about relocating to Florida last fall, I haven’t really been writing much poetry. Getting my house ready to put on the market, and working to simplify my life and skinny down my worldly belongings took a lot more bandwidth than I anticipated. It’s only now that I realize just how much I was sheltered through multiple corporate relocations.

I’ve been in Florida for four weeks now, and last weekend, I was finally reunited with my belongings (my tale of scammy moving companies holding my stuff hostage will have to wait for another day), and Saint Petersburg feels more like home every day.

There is something about this city that is magical. Sure, it’s known as Sunshine City, and I live just a short walk from the Bay, where I get to see dolphins and manatees. Yes, it is full of breathtaking murals, great museums, and punches well above its weight when it comes to great restaurants and coffee shops, etc. For me, it’s more about the people who are drawn here (in the words of Steve Jobs, they think differently), and the intentional community that they are building. Finding my way to that, and being welcomed into it, is fast making this Home for me.

This morning, like most mornings, I was up at dawn, ready to welcome the new day. Wolfie and I have ended up in a leafy residential area with a lake and a fountain, and we’ve just been watching the world go by. I started thinking about how I feel different here, and why that is, and this poem decided to present itself!

Open

Starting anew
I seek out age-old truths
Stripped down and pared back
We are ready for each other

Free to wander
I search for new rituals
Cornerstones
to build a new life upon

Rejecting complacency
Renouncing convention
Embracing my ability to choose
I choose joy and wonder

Shifting and flowing
I feel agile yet grounded
My new life calls me
And I am open