Saturday, August 11, 2018

no complaints

Talk to people about their lives
Asking how things are going for them
If you are ready to listen to troubles
That is the usual fare served up these days.

Too hot, too cold, too wet, too dry
The weather is our communal experience
Shared background to our individual struggles
With personal problems all too common.

When I listen to these often unhappy stories
I am affected and want to help somehow
Such response being neither asked nor expected
Such offers as I make likely politely declined.

I have no complaints of my own to tell
Though I can report certain symptoms of age
And difficult times have been part of my life
I’m in such a good place now it’s a bit unreal.

I expected to work until I dropped dead
Like so many others my age have to do
But being in the right place at the right time
Touched my work life with good fortune.

I’m entirely happy living with my sweet partner
A remarkably kind and compassionate person
Who guides my thoughts to good decisions
Whom I enjoy being with every day we are together.

Sunday, August 5, 2018

Thursday, August 2, 2018

DeKorte August 2, 2018

album

Wednesday, August 1, 2018

familiar place feeling

She moved into a house just down the street
A block past the place she lived as a young girl
Going back to her childhood neighborhood
After a lifetime living on the opposite coast.

“I feel so comfortable here” she confides
As we walk the street of her early life history
Looking up at the corner bedroom window
Where she first looked out at the world.

I imagine the face of innocence there
As she tells us what she saw from that window
Watching a large desperately poor family
Living across the street next to the vacant lot.

We are retracing her walk to elementary school
Cutting a diagonal across the grass of a square park
As she points out her favorite fantasy houses
She is living the dream to be where she is now.

At last she has gotten a house of her own
After so many years in the close quarters of tiny apartments
Free to fix it up nicely to suit her tastes and host friends
Planting a lovely garden of everything she likes.

Her sisters and cousins are near
And many Wallflower women friends, too
And now she has a group of comrades around
Gathering everything in one place.

We come to visit for a few days to enjoy her space
Appreciating all the work she has put into her home
Watching her partner setting stones to make a border
Fitted together beautifully as his labor of love for her.

Walking past an alley brings back a best friend memory for her
Of the line that marked the middle for them to meet
Halfway between their houses to head off to adventures
Though sadly that friend is now lost to all contact.

Some trees are gone, too, along with the people
And some new houses alter the viewscape here and there
Occupied by a new generation drawn to the scene
But for her the familiar place feeling remains rooted here.

She lives an active life engaged with young people
A retired teacher who continues to instruct the youth
Recruiting the idealists who want to bring about change
Leading the way to win peace and justice for all.

We help with some home improvement projects
And contribute to the political organizing discussion
Glad to be together with good friends sharing good food
Watching a hummingbird as we sit in her yard.