Trouble Don’t Last Always

I know by its very definition, the word surprise means that something unexpected happens, but as we both know, surprises can be good, bad, or indifferent.

By 10 a.m. today I’d had three surprises; and get this—they were all good, great even!

That was in total opposition to my day yesterday. When:

• The phone wouldn’t stop ringing,
• Notes were making nests on my desk; and
• I didn’t leave the office until the cleaners came. And the song in my soul was, Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen

Well today:

• My boss brought me some of her famous baked ziti. (Y’all know how I love Italian food)
• She also told me I could leave early; and
• I received an email from Sara at Black Expression 2005 (Yahoo Writers Group) with fabulous news!

It went like this:

Dear Dee,

Your poem titled: “The Strong Woman is Not Dead” is included in our anthology.

Please send us an address to mail it to you.

Sincerely,
Sara

My decorous response:

REALLY?!!?!!!?

Yeeee hawwwww!

What a lovely surprise!

My mailing address is:

D.S. White
P.O. Box 145
Whitehall, PA 18052-0145

Thanks for the great news Sara.

Dee.

Although the little gremlin on my left shoulder tried to bring up the fact that the title of the poem was actually “The Strong Black Woman Is Dead! Or Is She?” I treated it like my alarm clock and beat it into submission, while I continued doing a dance of joy and thought to myself, trouble truly don’t last always.