Circles Poem by Melissa Harkness

Circles keep cropping up in my life.
The coaster on the table reminds me
Not all circles are loved.
The circles on the carpet in the theater,
invite me to loop around and come again.
The round carrots of my stir fry orbit the hot, circular Mongolian grill,
The steam swirling upward and outward.
Circles keep cropping up in my life.
The ring on my finger
The steering wheel of my car
The eraser at the end of my pencil, used to encourage 3rd graders struggling with their math.
The dot over the i in my name...Melissa
These circles are small though, too small.
Dots, and carpets, and coasters
Miniscule erasers atop pencils.
These circles get lost in the grand scheme of life.
But then again, if we are not careful,
so too is the circle of community
The sphere of influence
The connections that each circle invites.
So I welcome the crop of circles
The jar lids
The full tires
The light fixtures
The door knobs
They remind me how important circles are.