OPEN MINDED

I am of the age
where knocks at the door did not
need to be scheduled.
This was a time when
hospitality welcomed
spontaneity.
A time when one was
made to feel valuable –
greeted with a smile
and a hand gesture
first ushering you in, then
offering a seat.
I wish I could say
that is a custom I still
embrace. But it’s not.
Feeling unprepared
makes me uneasy, and it
seeps right through my smile.
I hope to become
genuinely embracing
of a friendly knock –
to swing wide the door –
no thought of untidiness;
no eye on the time.
© Marie Elena Good, 2022