Evening After-Work Retreat Poem by Tricia Mae Chua

We took off after our busy work day to our evening retreat—
Here on this garden bench surrounded by green shrubbery
And the airy boughs of trees overhead,
Whose names I wish I knew like the students who sit in my class
Except I was there to listen, and to simply Be.

With the almost-autumnal full moon slowly rising,
We hungrily dug into our precious package of Thai appetizers
As if it was to us a full course meal:
Four sticks of chicken satay in peanut sauce,
And four pieces of steamed dumplings with pickled cucumber relish.
We toasted the end of summer with our laughter,
And happily partook in the miracle of this one shared moment in time.


Greenbelt, MD/ September 26,2010/ 5: 54 PM

Experience note: A bench at Brookside Gardens in Wheaton Regional Park, Montgomery County, Maryland with John Bois.