Sunday, June 25, 2023

Celery Farm June 25, 2023

Saturday, June 24, 2023

travelers in transition

Thinking about the choices we each made

The different ways we contributed

That is what matters most

To those who will come after


We are travelers in transition today 

Back seat passengers in a taxi

Stopped in traffic by an urban mural

Signed by Radical Impermanence


You ask what is the intention in that name

Before deciding upon your preferred meaning

That radical change is inevitable

Though it may seem impossible in the present


If I were to judge myself compared to my aspiration 

Based on what I have done to further the cause 

To make the world a better place 

My various efforts brought meager results


You have so much more to your credit

But you eventually got worn out

And now we are both living out our days

In the gathering worldwide crisis 


We are returning from visiting your aunt

Still living on her own at 98 years old

Still in the house you visited as a child

Full of memories for both of you 


Every keepsake she has collected

Holds a story from her life she wants us to know

As we admire the antique objects in her display cabinets

I record her oral history about them and herself 


Having been here in this same house for so long

While everything has been built up around her

Not expecting to be around much longer

Missing her friends and family already gone 


She is happy we are there listening 

Having so much to tell us and so little time

She gives us a quilt she made from off her bed 

As a piece of herself for us to have


For now we can still enjoy our conversations with her

Knowing the quilt could be handed down again someday

In an occasion to tell stories about who she was

And something about the world she lived in

Friday, June 23, 2023

Kensington Park June 22, 2023

Aunt Joan June 21, 2023