ECHOES OF OUR NEIGHBORHOOD

 There are many reasons I love my morning walks…many ways I find to be enthralled

but sometimes the best moments…are when I do not walk at all.

Today as I began my walk…in the street I quietly stood

listening…as all around me I heard echoes of our neighborhood.

I heard the voices of children playing…children who are no longer there.

I heard sounds of joy and laughter filling the morning air.

I heard balls bouncing, children signing…I heard the clomping of their feet.

Echoes they left behind as they played upon this street.

There was a symphony of children’s voices flowing to and fro…

I heard our children’s voices…as well as children I did not know.

I imagine these echoes are always here drowned out by the cricket and the birds…

so why on this particular day…did they make their voices heard?

And then I realized…they weren’t for me…all these voices I heard today

but for our neighbors, who just moved in…who have a baby on the way.

I think these voices came together in anticipation of the day

when another baby…another voice…will join them in their play.

The day when the voice of this new little miracle will mix and blend with theirs

And the symphony will become more beautiful as as it drifts upon the air.

I didn’t get much walking done today….as in the street I stood

I was too busy eavesdropping…

on the echoes of our neighborhood.