PICKING UP SKILLS — SEPTEMBER 18 WRITING PROMPT

Lifelong Learner

“What’s one skill you’ve always wanted to pick up? Why?”

Photo by iko on Unsplash

If only we could bend down,
Reach out a hand
And pick up a skill
As easily as one might
Pluck a bit of refuse
From the ground.
What if we could do just that?
What if we could see the path,
Strewn with others’
Discarded talents — unappreciated
There for the taking
For us to take home, nurture,
Recycle?

“There! That one — ” I would shop
The discards, rejects, second-hands,
Those “useless skills” cast aside
For worthier pursuits.
I’d save them all: Art. Poetry. Song.
Delicate, feathered things.
I’d clutch them to my breast,
Scurry home, mend broken wings
Coax them back to light and life.
Then — opening a window —
Set them free.