Sometimes, without noticing,
I nudge the lid open
and out spills
those sadnesses, deep and heavy.

Regrets, not so much of things
I didn’t have,
but conduct and words I wish
I had done or not
done.

Small things that I remember,
disappointments I could have changed
into morning glories,

bright blue and heavenly
as the Madonna’s cloak.

***First Sunday of Lent 2019