the end is the beginning

It feels like everything is coming to an end.
It would be enough just to go off to college
To be leaving behind all your childhood memories of place
Though still be able to revisit and remember what was.

But no, your mother is moving out of your childhood home
And I am moving out of your high school apartment across town
And your adored dog all these years so old now must be euthanized.
It feels like there will be nothing to come back to.

What a month for you. Everything is changing.
Here’s the best thing to do when change is inevitable:
Get behind it, go with it, grow with it.
You will come through it with truly adult sensibilities.

You will have a room of your own in our new place that’s sweet.
It’s a very nice place not far away from your friends here.
I’m thinking of you making sure this move will work for you, too.
You’ll be in a whirl at college but you’ll have a place that is home with me.

We’re letting go of our wonderful good dog in a loving way
Sparing him further end of life suffering when it hurts to walk
Though he does not complain out loud, this dog,
Though there are days he cannot get up off the floor.

We will go to the brook by our cabin, you and I,
By the pool he so loved to wade in and slurp drink his fill,
And make a memorial for him, remembering his gift to us,
Remembering all the ways he made our lives better.

Good and great things are coming your way
This I promise. It’s true what they say:
One door closes and another door opens.
Your dreams will come true if you stay true to them.

walking webster brook / west branch

good works

He would have been 83
If he lived just 5 more days.
Instead for his birthday remembrance
You and your sister hosted a sad celebration.

How wonderful to hear about it
How the people in his life shared
How you learned new special things he did
His good works touched so many.

The garbage man came to pay his respects
To the man who came out to the curb to help him.
The Mexican neighbors he befriended were there
And all the other neighbors he helped, too.

They came from the Children’s Justice Center
With stories of the beautiful wood toy trucks he made
Changing the model each year in case some abused child
Should have the misfortune to be there twice or more.

Just this year he made hundreds of silhouette cut outs
Displayed in front to count the boys and girls served
Marking the prevalence of child abuse made visible
That took weeks of work cutting plywood on the band saw.

They came from the local community theater group
Where for dozens of productions over the years
The most enchanting sets came from his workshop
Designed and built and donated all of them.

His reward was knowing he made some child’s day better.
His reward was seeing the theatre audience enjoying the play.
His reward was doing his part whatever he could
To make the world around him a better place for all.

The women came from the outdoor club
Who joined him this spring on their expeditions.
The dinosaur footprints scientist lady was there, too.
What a match that would have been.

I remember him telling us of the dead hummingbird crashed into his window
How he placed the bird in a small box and buried it in his garden.
He was such a kind hearted person.
How I loved him for being not ashamed to share such a story.

You have some closure now I hope
Though you will be in mourning for some time.
It’s good you have new closeness with your sister.
We will honor him in our new house.

42nd Street Sunnyside

a billion pipes billowing

The oil billows up from the broken pipe day after day,
The live video feed as a TV picture inset on every news channel.
There’s no way to stop it. It goes on and on 80 days and counting.
I think of the fossil fuel smoke billowing from a billion other pipes.

The other billion pipes discharge ever so much more than the spill
And yet there’s no mention of that as an environmental disaster.
Our presence on earth is altering the biosphere.
The destruction of our habitat is accelerating.

Eventually the one point discharge in the Gulf of Mexico will be stanched.
The damage will have limits. It will not be the end of life on earth.
But the other billion points of discharge not seen as leaks will continue
Just like the deep water oil drilling business will not pause.

What is this creature the human being that creates such global pollution?
There are times when I feel alienated from my species.
Sometimes it seems that asphalt and garbage mounds are everywhere.
Our success that we keep doubling and re-doubling will be our downfall.

The earth is immense but it is finite.
The European expansion in the age of colonialism reached everywhere.
The American Imperialism that dominates the world today
Exploits every natural resource and all the workers of the world.

There are limits. The end really is near when there’s an endless war.
We don’t know how or when it will collapse and die
But there’s no doubt the doubling down leads to bankruptcy.
We hope a better world’s in birth.

mask washing board sculpture

"The Mask represents the country of Trinidad where carnival is the mainstay of our culture.

The washing board and the soap represents a village in Blanchisseuse (translated to mean the washer woman).

The concept behind this piece is a reflecting of history before conventional equipment was introduced. The natives would use the washing board and to launder their clothing."

Rennie Bobb
Sculptor
rbobb2010@yahoo.com
1.868.394.8476

buddy is gone

The river by the pier is calm and peaceful this morning.
There are huge rafts of mallards slowly parading in processions
Along the shore and out towards the main channel.
At 4 AM last night your father died in his sleep at home.

You called to tell me about his last hours.
I am so sad for you but so happy you were there
Comforting him with your words of love
Helping your sister and his sister to bear your loss.

How wonderful his friend came by who knew to get
His favorite tool his father’s small brad hammer
Cherished all these years from when he was a boy
And put it in his hand to take to the ancestors.

There is always unfinished business in our lives
But for the important relationships in his life
All was right with him in his last days.
No regrets. He was a very good man.

kissena july evening