In the Stillness

The wood stove in the kitchen is hot,
maple sap boiling, it must be spring
the record player running in the next room,
might be Loretta Lynn.

Grief is present,  disconnected,
a soul soon leaving,
 "precious memories,how they linger"
this heart is grieving.

Another grandma denied connection,
the songs still plays from long ago
"precious sacred scenes unfold'"
sun is setting,
    there's no forgetting.

Pain, and anger, love and sharing,
hopes and dreams
            alive they swell,
"the sun is sinking, shadows falling,"
remember the losses,
fears tell well.

A granddaughter naps beside me,
the dryer runs on the floor below,
no songs are playing in the next room,
I hear a caw
is it a crow?

 
gkn April 2019

all quotes from lyrics from Precious Memories written by Alan Jackson

The Oscilate of Life

Her blonde head bounces as she clambers
over under the rail racing
toward swings

I gather her, encouraging caution
begging her to acknowledge
my fears

an underdog, I can hang on, she insists
see, places her little fingers solidly
on metal links.

baby blue seat is for another
child, an infant not her

caught

between wonder, awe or grief

my curls, my voice begging,
laughing  as I bounce from
an underdog

holding tightly as the sky greets
me

sun peeking through clouds
until darkness surrounds
the swing,

the laughter

holding tightly looking
for ground

leaving,
               returning,

             grey hair among the curls.

gkn April 2019

April 12, 1996

Translucence, 

diaphanous encirclement 

wings carried you

into the rainstorm, 

thunder crashing,

lightning breaking the sky, 

body  soul

torn   

asunder.

gkn 

April 2019

LIfe on Earth

We are living with four wonderful boys this week.  Their parents are enjoying time celebrating an anniversary,  not in Iceland.  WOW airline  shut down days before their flight.  They are in Montreal.

My pictures of delight accumulate waiting to be shared.  The stories grow, from the three year old, wistfully telling me that when he and mama and daddy go home, mama and daddy will be with him forever, to the almost sixteen year old discussing the amp he has ordered to go with his new electric guitar.

We check our email often to hear from our friend, a mother who has requested prayers for her son still living.  I glance at facebook at a moment in between action and I see reminders of trans visibility day, of a family surrounded by  another cancer diagnosis,  of weather warnings, of dancing police officers.  Stories filled with deep sorrow and courageous hope.

My life today requires me to  notice the many gifts that surround me.  Gifts of a tired body from swimming at the plunge, from climbing at the indoor playground, from building a snow person.  Gifts of sleeping with a little person who loves sleeping face to face.  The gift of watching an adolescent satire, and playing games of chess and checkers and and and...


I live in the middle of it all,  today joy surrounds me.


I anticipate tomorrow, with the knowledge of noticing this day!

gkn
March 2019