after living in places far and wide
country to country
locale to locale,
i delight in the fact that 

i live in an area now
where i run into people i know
casually at the chemist
or walking along the beach 
    (walks take much longer this way)

that the man who owns the dairy
stocks my favourite
harder-to-find popcorn
just because i like it
    (seriously. just for me)

that i live within walking distance
to dear friends who would all
band together should emergency arise 
    (we discuss this happily from time to time)

that people here get overly excited
about things like lower petrol prices
or the opening of a supermarket 
    (big news indeed!)

and post on online community pages
when emergency vehicles wail past
    (making sure everyone is okay)

that there are miniature fairy villages
down by the beach at the bases of trees. 
they are undamaged and are 
still being added to several years on
    (no one knows who’s doing it!)

it’s not that this place is perfect but 
it’s a quiet place where i know others
and am known
    (and it’s mine)


heather pound 2024

Photo by Tim Marshall on Unsplash