The Art of Finding*

The art of finding isn't hard to master.
Find something good in every day. Accept
the joy of love and art and beauty, keys
that open every door, freedom from disaster

Then practice finding faster, coins and friends
and names and places. The art of finding
isn't hard to master. I lost my cat, my dog,
my aster. I found them all again before

the day had ended, grateful for no disaster.
An earthquake struck and cracked the plaster.
I called State Farm; the agent wrote a check;
the cracks were fixed. The art of fixing

isn't hard to master. Even finding you
was easier and faster. We dated for a year,
then called a pastor. She blessed us both.
The art of finding isn't hard to master.

* It should be noted that this poem is a tribute to one by Elizabeth Bishop
entitled "One Art," which can be read at the Academy of American Poets website.