Creative Practice: A Sonnet to the Ordinary
31 days of sonnets - Day 1
I have never seen a full page spread dedicated to the smile
of a random new baby beaming up with toothless gums;
no acolade for Usain Bolt the day he ran his first mile;
no award that Ada Lovelace completed her sums.
We celebrate the finish line and moments of glory—
Stanford student Eileen Gu winning Olympic gold—
without remembering the ordinary moments of the story:
post-workout meals, a jacket zipped against the cold.
Nursing aids clean up elderly residents in a home;
dandelions grow in clusters by the side of the road;
babies’ lives unfold according to nurture and genome;
seeds scatter in the wind when the clusters are mowed.
Each baby held up can inspire—like a flower—
the smile that awakens to the present moment’s power.
