Nobel laureate Derek Walcott died on St. Patrick's Day. While he's most known for writing the EPIC poem Omeros, he also wrote one of my favorite (short) poems that I wanted to share with you:Love after LoveDerek WalcottThe time will comewhen, with elationyou will greet yourself arrivingat your own door, in your own mirrorand each will smile at the other's welcome,and say, sit here. Eat.You will love again the stranger who was your self.Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heartto itself, to the stranger who has loved youall your life, whom you ignoredfor another, who knows you by heart.Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,the photographs, the desperate notes,peel your own image from the mirror.Sit. Feast on your life.Great, right?I first read this poem at a trying time in my life, when I was feeling lost. It inspired a conversation with myself about who I was and what I was doing with my life. I took some if it literally, opening up a box of memories and actually feasting on my life, trying to remember who I was. I think it's important to do that every once in a while, to take stock of who you are and where you've been, and really get back to the center of you.Years later, I read the poem again, and saw it in a different light. I was now a mom and the "other" I was ignoring myself for was not a lover but the smaller, louder, more insistent males in my life.And now it's even more important to remember who I am and come back to center when I'm feeling lost. Thank you, Mr. Walcott, for helping me do that.You can read more about the poet and playwright inthe Guardian article announcing his death.