Collecting
As a small child I collected snails
Fat and slimy
Gentling covering their eyes with my finger tip
Marveling at the instant descend toward home
Over and over again
Touching one then the other
Now understanding that no creatures wants to be poked in the eye
As an older child I collected stamps
Beautifully laid books with acid free paper and plastic to protect valuable squares of sticky paper
I didn't have
An old Danish Cookie tin filled to the brim with bent up stamps from Canada and the UK pushed under my bed
As a teen I collected phone numbers
At the mall, Stonestown and Serramonte with male cousins
Some by blood, others by kinship
In greasey smelling food courts with scraps of paper in pockets
Contests on who can get the most
Being the only girl in the crew I always won, no boy ever said no
These days I collect good intentions and the bounties from practicing being better in this moment
Harmonious vibrations spark opening of channels to other portals where mind and matter are one