Thursday, April 13, 2006

Possibilities and Dancing Bears

I have holes in my ears where I put the treasures I find in my jewelry box.

Today, when I was digging through diamonds and rubies in search of dancing bears for Grandson Tru to admire in my ears, I spotted a puzzle piece. Hmmm...Why would this puzzle piece be with my treasures? I had no idea.

But it did bring to mind a Shel Silverstein poem.

The Picture Puzzle Piece.

One picture puzzle piece
Lying on the sidewalk,
One picture puzzle piece
Soakin' in the rain.
It might be a button of blue
On the coat of the woman
Who lived in a shoe.
It might be a magical bean,
Or a fold in the red
Velvet robe of a queen.
It might be the one little bite
Of the apple her stepmother
Gave to Snow White.
It might be the veil of a bride
Or a bottle with some evil genie inside.
It might be a small tuft of hair
On the big bouncy belly
Of Bobo the Bear.
It might be a bit of the cloak
Of the Witch of the West
As she melted to smoke.
It might be a shadowy trace
Of a tear that runs down an angel's face.
Nothing has more possibilities
Than one old wet picture puzzle piece.


(from Shel Silverstein's book 'A Light in the Attic. c. 1981)

Staring at my puzzle piece, I tried to imagine the possibilities. If I had two, I could fashion them to wear in my ears.
Was it even my puzzle piece?
Had I thrown the rest of the puzzle away, because it lack this one piece?
How many possibilities had I thrown away because a piece was missing? Maybe I should have waited and looked in my treasures. So I left my puzzle piece among my diamonds, rubies and dancing bears as a reminder to wait for possibilities to gather all their pieces.

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