"her spoon..."

there was a time, when she was just
a girl, that I would find her spoon left
lying on the table, the arm of a chair,
the edge of her sandbox...a bowl of cereal
half-eaten lying nearby...and I would
sigh, tired and exasperated,
wishing she'd learn, once and for
all, that used spoons and bowls belonged
in the sink...

that was then...

but today I found a spoon, a bit of milk pooling
in its bowl, sitting on the table in a scattering of
errant sugar...
and smiled...

how could I have missed it then...
those days, not so long ago, days too wonderful
to realize "in the moment"

but seeing that spoon this morning I wanted to
leave it there forever, like a shrine,
to never move it, or let it be washed...to discover
it "left behind" over and over again...every day...
for the rest of time...

and I would still sigh...but this time...
with gratitude...