Observations and Insights
on the Nature of Things
This monthly column features brief essays, poems, poetic micro essays and photography by Eve West Bessier, Poet Laureate Emerita of Silver City and Grant County, New Mexico. Look for a new post on the first of the month.
Fluent – Decode – Retain
Oh, to be fluent
in the language
of ordinary hope,
adept at decoding
the compounded interest
of unremarkable moments.
Easy enough to grasp
the billboard-sized missives
that arrive by way of life’s
outsized experiences.
But how to comprehend
the mysticism of the mundane?
It is not the immediate
experience that molds us,
it is what we retain,
the resonance that remains
long after the day
is merely history.
Photo credit: “Meditative Moment,” pen and ink drawing, Eve West Bessier
“Fluent – Decode – Retain” first appeared in the author’s collection, “Hope is Audacious,” 2026
