James Crews: The Pond at Sunset

I forget I’ve already arrived
in the life I want, and that I am
still arriving at the same time.
Last night before sunset, I paced
the edge of the dock back and forth,
afraid to take the leap. But as the sun
broke through a rip in the clouds,
strobing across the rippled pond,
the word Trust flashed in my mind
and I jumped in. Past the worn-out
desire for a better this or that, past
the fear that if I let my guard down
and just feel joy, something might go
awry, things will fall apart. I cried out
with shock as I rose through colder
layers of water, gasping for air,
spluttering—happier than I’ve been
in weeks. The pond was my life,
and I knew I had to keep diving
deeper and deeper beneath the surface
to immerse myself in what’s already
here, and all that is to come.

~~~~

From Breathing Room, Simon and Schuster, 2026

James Crews is the editor of several bestselling anthologies, including The Path to Kindness: Poems of Connection and Joy and How to Love the World: Poems of Gratitude and Hope, which has over 100,000 copies in print. He has been featured in The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, The New York Times Magazine, The New Republic, The Christian Science Monitor, and on NPR’s Morning Edition. James is the author of four prize-winning books of poetry—The Book of What Stays, Telling My Father, Bluebird, and Every Waking Moment—and a book of short essays, Kindness Will Save the World: Stories of Compassion and Connection. James also speaks and leads workshops on kindness, mindfulness, and writing for self-compassion. He lives with his husband on forty rocky acres in the woods of Southern Vermont.James Crews is the editor of several bestselling anthologies, including The Path to Kindness: Poems of Connection and Joy and How to Love the World: Poems of Gratitude and Hope, which has over 100,000 copies in print. He has been featured in The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, The New York Times Magazine, The New Republic, The Christian Science Monitor, and on NPR’s Morning Edition. James is the author of four prize-winning books of poetry—The Book of What Stays, Telling My Father, Bluebird, and Every Waking Moment—and a book of short essays, Kindness Will Save the World: Stories of Compassion and Connection. James also speaks and leads workshops on kindness, mindfulness, and writing for self-compassion. He lives with his husband on forty rocky acres in the woods of Southern Vermont.