I'm just an old, blue canvas swing, in a bucket shape so people can relax and rest in me. Sometimes when the wind comes blowing, I fly high like a kite, swirling and dancing until I land in a tree branch. There I hang, sadly waiting until someone takes pity on me, and gets me down.
But oh - the things I've heard. I've heard the symphony of birds welcoming the morning sun. I've heard the sleepy dusk call of momma birds gathering their little ones and tucking them in for the night. The howls of hungry coyotes drifting up from the creek bed. The songs I've heard sung to babies and children, while they sit in me and sway to the music. Stories of daring feats, mysteries, fairy tales I've listened to over the many years. I've heard the booming of thunder like kettle drums crescendoing their way to the grand finale.The rain makes a soft pattering sound just as it starts, and then as it pours, it sounds like a thousand drums playing rhythm together. I've heard sad things - the weeping of a broken heart, of sorrow so deep a soul can barely survive. The best of all things is hearing the soft "I love you" whispered many, many times.
And oh - the things I've seen. Happy children running and playing, laughing at the top of their lungs and then collapsing on the grass just under me. I've seen fireflies like tiny diamonds winking in the pasture and happy children chasing them while laughing and giggling. I've seen a quiet doe slip across the pasture with a little one by her side - always with her ears up, listening for danger. I've seen jagged bolts of lightening streak across the sky and splinter into a millions paths of light. A brilliant flash of crimson as a cardinal shoots across the yard. But best of all is the peace I see when things are right with the world.
There are smells all around me. Wafts of fragrant lilac blooms and sweet apple blossoms. Fresh mown grass smelling of clean earth. Smoky smells of fireworks and smoke bombs. Delicious smells of hamburgers grilling on the barbeque. The wet damp smell just before a rain shower. The dusty and earthy smell of leaves in autumn as they flitter past me to the ground. But best of all is the sweet smell of a soft spring evening as the sun sets in the west.
I can also feel the love all around me as stories are read, songs are sung and babies are swung. I feel the blazing heat of summer as the earth scorches under the relentless sun. I've felt the wind rushing by me in a hurry to go somewhere else. The rain cools me, rinsing off the dust of the day and leaving me fresh and clean. I've felt the heartache sometimes around me of problems that won't seem to go away. I've felt the wonder of a tiny baby in arms, and the love and pride that babies always bring. But best of all, I feel the hope that comes with a new day, a new start and happiness that makes a glow all around me.
Sometimes I taste the salty tears of sadness and the anger over injustices to loved ones. The taste of heat shimmering in the air. I can taste the sweetness of a love that has lasted for over four decades. There is the taste of happiness and giggles and stories and songs and love. Cold iced tea as a few drops spill on my canvas. Creamy ice cream dripped from a small hand holding a cone. But most of all, I taste the love that surrounds me and keeps me swinging softly in the Oklahoma breeze.
I am just an old blue canvas swing. Come sit awhile and make some memories.
