Let the Morning Find Me

The ferry leaves at half past ten

The ticket clerk counts out change again

A gull steals bread beside the pier

The morning carries no demand to hurry

A woman runs the little corner shop

She knows which regulars will stop

She keeps a jar of foreign coins

And tells me how the village has changed its voice

An old projectionist lives above the hall

Where faded movie posters cover the wall

He still describes the films he used to show

As if the actors might return tomorrow

I once believed a meaningful life

Had to arrive with a grand design

But here the days are made of smaller things

A kettle's whistle, a bicycle bell that rings

There is no lesson in the weather

No hidden message in the sea

Some days are simply here to happen

And that is enough for me

I can let the morning find me

Without a list of things to prove

I can leave a little room

For the unexpected to come through

I don't need to name the future

Or decide what every moment means

I can take the day as it arrives

And trust the life that grows between

I found an envelope behind a drawer

Addressed in careful script from years before

The paper held a pressed camellia

Its petals thin as autumn leaves

No letter waited underneath

Just a photograph and a date in ink

I put them back where they had been

A small unfinished story kept within

Beyond the fence, a child learned to ride

Her older sister ran beside

They fell into the grass and laughed

Then tried again along the narrow path

I watched until they disappeared

Past the houses near the pier

And thought how little courage needs

To look like courage when nobody sees

There is no lesson in the weather

No hidden message in the sea

Some days are simply here to happen

And that is enough for me

I can let the morning find me

Without a list of things to prove

I can leave a little room

For the unexpected to come through

I don't need to name the future

Or decide what every moment means

I can take the day as it arrives

And trust the life that grows between

If I never find the perfect words

For every turn that brought me here

I'll let the unfinished thoughts remain

Without dressing them in certainty

I carried other people's expectations

Like luggage packed for a distant trip

Now I can set the heavier cases down

And learn what fits my hands and heart

I can let the morning find me

With a little less to prove

There is nothing wrong with changing

There is nothing left to lose

I can welcome what is ordinary

Let the unremarkable be seen

I don't need a perfect ending

To know what all these days have been

The ferry returns across the bay

The shopkeeper sweeps the steps away

The projectionist turns out the light

And leaves the keys beside the sign

The tide withdraws, then comes again

A gull descends beside the pier

The day has asked for nothing more

Than that I was here