Perfect Day

Today was one of the best days of my life.
Nothing of any importance occurred –
I cut my finger on a paperknife
And marvelled at a busy hummingbird
Plucking out wet moss by a waterfall;
Broke bread with friends and shared a glass of wine;
Wrote this poem; swam; made love. That’s all.
Why should it be some days erect a shrine…
A cairn, a white stone day, in memory?
Is it, as Buddhists claim, a lack of need,
Or want? O simple serendipity,
The perfect flowering of one small seed?
The wise will say our frames are none too pure:
How many perfect days could we endure?

from Island of Dreams: 99 Poems from Mustique Book and CD (Noctua Press, 2007), © Felix Dennis 2007, used by permission of the author.

The free tracks you can enjoy in the Poetry Archive are a selection of a poet’s work. Our catalogue store includes many more recordings which you can download to your device.

Glossary
Close