Friday, August 9, 2013

those who listen



Hearing foreign languages spoken around me
Living in a multinational community
I hear the tone of voice but understand little
Except a few words in Spanish and fewer in Korean.

Going for a walk beside the lake in the park nearby
Hearing many other languages and seeing the person
I make a tenuous guess where the speaker was born:
This one perhaps Eastern Europe, the other perhaps South Asia.

As I try to understand what they are talking about
A strange remembrance passes through my brain
Before I understood language, when words were a jumble
Before my first conscious memory.

The awareness is something like a waking dream
Like when some smell or sound takes you back
A strong feeling that you can’t place exactly
That has no words but takes hold of your thoughts.

Half awake first thing in the morning I hear the fish crows
Calling kwok kwok through the open window
Speaking their familiar language I do not understand.
For a moment I have a vague memory of some time before.

This indistinct recall is a recurring experience for me
Different particulars but somehow the same elusive recognition
Like feeling someone looking at you
Who looks away when you look at them.

I think this is not an early symptom of memory loss
Since I remembered well the details from 60 years ago
Last month revisiting my childhood home
Talking to another kid who grew up on the block.

Is this what happens to the older brain?
Daydreaming more, letting the mind wander
What’s happening in this moment not so important
When millions of moments have come and gone.

Like a reverie looking out the bus window
Traveling the same familiar route
Catching a glimpse of someone or something
Imagining being off the bus and in that other place.

We soon move on to the next thought.
The river of time takes us along asleep or awake
Babbling away to those who listen
Who may understand its tone like a voice.

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

brooklyn bajan birthday

Four daughters, a son and a grandson;
Your dear girlfriend since childhood;
Your daughter-in-law and her mother;
Your daughter’s good friend and me:

We are all together to celebrate you
Making a party in your honor.
You bring us all together.
That’s the main thing, being there for you.

Wilma had to work but got off early
Making a happy surprise when she arrives.
Dondre and Deon shop and cook all day
Having a good time as mother and son.

Michelle shows the video I made of you
Telling your black cake recipe to her and Sharon
Delighted to see that it has 2700 views
That makes her mom a kind of famous person. 

We are all proud of you for what you accomplished
Against great odds as an immigrant here
Remembering your years of struggle and sacrifice
Raising a family every child grown into a good person.

You worked hard.  You made an honest living.
You are still the strength at the center of the family.
Today you are the birthday girl in a special pink dress
Still a good looking woman with goodness in your heart.

Neville and Roseanne are admiring the photo of you and Deon
That I took of you two working together in your kitchen
Bandannas on your heads like the bandanna on his head.
You stay relaxed not minding as I snap pictures to show your love.

Smiling Eleanor tells us of your childhood years together in Barbados.
Josephine dances in her special way.
Dondre lights 24 candles and directs the cake cutting. 
Neville listens closely as you read each card again.

But tonight to my dismay I forgot to bring my camera.
The best I can do is cell phone pictures in the dim light. 
I make a video of the cake and candles and Rhonda’s toast:
Here’s to 76 years and many more to come!

Monday, August 5, 2013

Sunday, August 4, 2013

Visiting Rosie


Visiting Rosie is a very special time together
Talking to someone who has been around
More than 90 years
Sharing many of those years with you
And a few with me in my youth.

We talk and look at photos and videos
Telling Rosie about the places we have been
Answering her animated questions
Enjoying her enjoyment of us
Marveling at her quick wit and good humor.

Milt is there, too, happy to talk with us.
We listen amazed and delighted
Munching on the cookies Rosie baked
Discussing the best upgrade for her computer
Making plans for getting together more often.

Here is this person who is interested in new things
Telling us about the documentaries she has been watching
Learning, absorbing information and sharing
What she knows, caring about everyone
Here now and in the future.

We brought binoculars for you to look
Across the way from her bedroom window
To identify the big old tree as a red oak
Standing there as a companion to Rosie
Looking at it each day from her apartment. 

They don’t get out much any more
Milt and Rosie, life partners for such a long time,
But for us it is such a gift that they are here
For us to have a conversation
Filled with such sweetness and light.