The Gift of Return

We came in carrying the list,
the worry, the racing mind,
the driving, the caregiving,
the boxes open and waiting.

Then, for one minute, nothing was due.

And the ordinary world stepped forward:
a rock in a fountain,
feathery leaves outside a window,
a flower on a screen,
a vintage toy holding an inscription
nobody had noticed until now.

Someone heard the birds sing.
Someone found silence. Memories.
Permission. Release. Relief.

Some things grow before you see them.

Thank you, someone wrote,
for the gift of return.