A Tale of the Lost Leather Wrist Bag

A Tale of the Lost Leather Wrist Bag

The air was a white, pearlescent haze as I walked upon the street cobblestones along some quaint shops in a New England village. A small leather bag hanged from my right wrist and in it were my credit cards, driver’s license, passport, and some dollar bills. I felt uncomfortable with the small bag as it was not the shoulder bag I usually carry around.

After walking a while, I sought refuge in a furniture store where I could rest my aching feet. It was then when I noticed that my little leather bag was no longer around my wrist. Suddenly I felt a whirlwind of panic — I have lost the objects of my identity!  In the midst of my bewilderment, a kind, middle-aged lady approached me and I told her my plight.  With a sweet, soothing voice she said, “My dear, everything can be replaced”.

I blinked and rubbed my eyes. It was all a dream.   

The leather wrist bag flashed in my mind and immediately I was smacked with a shock of recognition: it was the exact same bag my father had given me to hold my passport, plane ticket and three single dollar bills when I left home decades ago to pursue graduate studies in a foreign land.

All I owned when I embarked on the plane were three single dollar bills, a few clothes in a small suitcase, and my name.

In a faraway land, God has faithfully provided for me through the promise of each new day, especially through difficult circumstances, across the landscapes of the seasons and the years.

In this life I can easily misplace so many worldly “things” which can be replaced. What I cannot lose is the essence of who I am as a child of God. Though the seedling has grown into a strong, tall tree which blossoms every spring, I am that same young lady who left everything behind, flew towards the stars, crossed oceans and mountains, to pursue a dream.

D. G. Vachal © 2024

Image by Kanenori @ Pixabay

Love Haiku 13:15



Love Haiku 13:15


13

laughter of my love
cradled by the summer winds
sprays of lavender


14

as a blooming rose
awaits my pulsating heart
softly comes the rain


15

i think upon you
when skies are blue as the Nile
field of white lilies


© D. G. Vachal 2024

Image by Mariya M @ Pixabay

Most This Amazing Day

Most This Amazing Day

Today, a day amazing
of sunlight sprinkles and skin-tingling 
cool wisps of springtime air, 
of parking decks and flights of steps 
to catch
a hooting train, New York-bound —-

on the upper train deck,
I read David’s psalm passages
in Kindle app
through local station stops                 (slow boat to China)

walked from Penn Station 
to 29th and 8th ,
my daughter met me in her Subaru
and we snaked our way around the New York
City traffic jungle
towards downtown,
found a lucky parking spot,
had brunch with a window seat        (Gwyneth Paltrow’s haunt)

walked almost a thousand steps
throughout Soho and West Village,
stopping for iced coffee,
and afterwards dessert with prosecco     (classy French place)

Back at Penn Station, hopped on the
Northeast Corridor train to New Brunswick,
a family with young kids,
and an elderly couple
who visited Coney Island,
the grey-haired man said each year
he spends his birthday there
I caught the joy
in the tremor of his voice.

I missed my stop.    (first time after so long)

Next stop, Princeton Junction,
the conductor announced,
Thankfully Uber.

fetched by a shining light blue Tesla,     (I was expecting a Toyota)  
driven back to New Brunswick station 

Almost 10 pm.
Elevator to parking deck out of service.
Ascended the stairs, startled by
a dark-haired man, shabbily dressed,
spoke to me in Spanish, 
no more trains, he said,
he will walk up the stairs with me

No, I said and ran back down
to an almost abandoned platform
save for a redheaded, muscular young male
seated on the waiting bench.
He walked up with me to the parking deck,
made sure I got in my car safely.              (he was an angel unaware)

Most this amazing day.              (phrase from E.E. Cumming’s poem)

D. G. Vachal © 2024

Image by Predrag Krezic

Love Haiku 10:12

Love Haiku 10:12

10

Where are you my love
long ago our last goodbye
lilacs bloom again


11

After i lost you
i searched through endless forests
silent are the pines


12

in our lost garden
flutters a butterfly white
awaiting the dawn

D. G. Vachal © 2024

Teach Me to Number My Days

Teach Me to Number My Days

Teach me to number my days
the way You number
the hairs on my head,
the way You are mindful
of petals and sparrows
as they fall with the leaves
in the mist of autumn rain —

was it only this morning
when my hair was in pigtails,
as I dressed my dolls
in pink dresses,
dreamt of a fairytale prince 
upon a white stallion
awaiting to take me to a castle
hidden in emerald forests —

towards noon
when I felt butterflies 
fluttering in clandestine chambers 
of my youthful heart,
I met my first love
and time was suspended,
drowned in ivory clouds
and endless blue oceans —

i can still feel the afternoon warmth
when the children came
and their laughter mingled
with the melody of songbirds,
the hum of restless cicadas —

at sunset my love and I
rowed the silent rivers,
built a bonfire upon the sand,
held each other’s hand
for warmth —

and now at twilight
wrapped in the lavender glow,
i treasure the dwindling vestiges
of tender moments,
the faint beloved
song that will remain
when evening falls.

O teach me to number my days.

D. G. Vachal @ 2024

Image by Liuksena @ Pixabay