How to fill your time
As an empty nester
Has been a question
For the quester.
You ignite the fire
Within your soul
to find the foal
You left behind.
You learn to play
And have some fun
You organize your house
and go for a run.
You learn to speak
Another tongue
You find some friends
And do some good.
You bake some cookies
And eat them as you
Knew you would.
But freeze some too
You play the radio
And feel love from
Something bigger
Than you.
You dance around the living room
As though you had
A partner.
And your life starts to bloom.
You start a gratitude
Journal,
And pick up the phone.
You’re in a new zone.
You organize your closet
Putting together outfits
Tucking excitement into
each pocket.
You walk the dog and
Play fetch with her
You hug her once, or twice, or thrice
And feel the love magnified.
You start to garden
With the lettuce stem
On the kitchen counter
Then . . .
There’s something about
Growing things that
Stirs the nurturing
Instinct.
And eating the produce.
Trying not to think of
Cannibalism as you munch
On the babies you grew.
You learn a new skill
Whether it be leather
Stamping or wood working,
painting , drawing, writing, cooking
Crocheting, small engine repair
Computer programming,
Origami, bookkeeping, beekeeping
Animal husbandry,
it all works to the good.
You use that forgotten
Library card and find gold
As you know you would.
It’s information and entertainment
All for free and all
outside of the four empty
Walls that cry for empathy.
With abject loneliness.
That is, until you
Find you like your little nest
And your own company.
Find you are more than
Just a mother.
You find the person
You once buried for the other.
She lives in the
Otherworld, that entity
Of happiness and joy,
And peace, and serenity.
Find her.
Purple Pennies 