Stacey Murphy read these two poems on Saturday, April 27, 2019, as part of the Tompkins County Public Library Readathon fundraising event.
The Elephant Vanishes
I meditate on the removal of obstacles
and the Universe appears —
a great golden elephant
in a green, wooded glade
carefully picking logs off the path before me
moving them aside gently:
hesitation, gangly and thorny;
lack, hollow and brittle;
distraction, thick and heavy.
With one look over her shoulder and a playful flip
of her tail the elephant
winks and she vanishes.
It is up to me to move forward.
The Declutter Meditation
On the inhale, I breathe in an open shoe rack
On the exhale, I remove an unhelpful thought
On the inhale, I make space on a shelf
On the exhale, I place an old habit in the trash bag
On the inhale, I smell gentle lemony cleaners
On the exhale, the old tattered blanket goes to the animal shelter
On the inhale is space and potential
On the exhale comes limitless creation
