Contentment

As various cruise guests disembark from the ship; anxious to get to their prepaid excursions, to sight see and to pick up little mementos for friends and loved ones, I go in the opposite direction.  I seek to find a book store and a coffee shop.  As I strolled throughout the streets of Alaska, everything is similar to back home.  Everything except for the GINORMOUS mountains with their white peaks and occasional hidden waterfalls.

Ahhh, there it is.  A little used bookstore off the beaten path.  As I enter to find one employee and one customer, I politely interrupt and asked about the poetry section.  It was as small as a P.O. Box, but one good poem is all you need.  Right?

Lo' and behold, I found a treasure for only $3.  "Patchwork Poetry" by Dorothy Harley.  The book is 33 years old and it's all mine.  I headed to the coffee shop to get a cup of java, a light dessert and to sit in the corner...and hopefully go unnoticed.

It was indeed my moment of bliss.  I'm in Juneau, Alaska on my birthday, seated in a coffee shop reading poetry.  Wow.

Here is one of the little treasures inside her book:

Contentment
I've found a bit o' Heaven
just sittin' on my dock,
Soaking up the sunshine -
Gazing at the rocks -
Loving every bird that flies,
Each pretty weed that flowers -
Watching lazy clouds drift by -
Enjoying every hour;
I may not be a boon to man -
But happy being what I am?