A MODICUM OF JOY

How may one find a modicum of joy

on a bleak mid-winter morning…

last day of the year?

One might just raise one’s eyes

to see a bluebird perched…

feathered-out plump

against a bare-branched tree.

A FLYING MIND

Last week – in the midst of Christmas preparations – I digressed, meandered over to a cupboard full of odds and ends. I opened a door and removed a sculpted wire face…a mask of sorts made sometime last year. I also extracted a pair of wings. I can’t remember why I made them, or why they remained unattached; my mind has continued to seem slow and sluggish…still affected by anesthesia, pain medication, and the body’s urge to rest. But now my hands were quick to join wings to brow. I saw that the two were one, and it was good. My spirit immediately lifted. It was as though the months of incapacitation (mind and body) were finally yielding  to another reality. Even as my mind would seem to recoil from effort, my body/arm to flinch from the push to accomplish former mobility, some part of me remembered flight. Some part of me still believes in a flying mind.

Where might the mind go

if we bless its journey –

bid it farewell –

step back and trust its flight.

ORANGES AND RUBY SLIPPERS

Lou Ann and I

have been missing each other.

Since the surgery left me

in a solitary free fall…

reaching yet unable to catch hold,

we have been calling, leaving messages,

just missing the sound of one another’s voice.

No face to face encounter has been possible

no chance to catch up on

the equally difficult passages

we have faced.

We have a history

beginning when at age eleven

she came to me to learn to dance.

I gave her opportunities to

leap, twirl, soar;

to realize freedom of expression

through her dancing body.

She gave me living proof that a child could dance

from the moment she was awakened

to the possibility.

She gave me friendship that could survive

beyond the dance.

She is a determined sort of friend,

yet capable of affording space when needed.

This was why I found the gift of oranges

outside my door.

I brought the glorious gift inside

inhaling the freshness

of fruit picked lovingly from her tree,

and checked out the other items she had included.

Carrot cake: I took a bite.

A little book: I opened it and read the word “love”.

There were gloves to soften the hands,

and chap stick to soften the lips.

There was even a card that said:

“One step at a time.”

And finally, to add a little magic to the stepping…

there were ruby slippers.

 These I put on…

and did a little happy dance in response.

Oh Lou Ann!

Then I photographed oranges

with and without Pearl’s help.

Her interest was profound.

And thorough…

But the tart sweet inside of the orange

was not to her taste.

It was to mine.

Oranges are as photogenic

as they are delicious.

The pleasure of partaking of an orange

can be prolonged.

The pleasures of true friendship

are eternal…

especially when wearing ruby slippers.

PASSIONATE TRANSITION

Fall flashes fiery afterthoughts

as I am gingerly approaching greater freedom.

I catch these on my brave meanderings

untrammeled by beloved dogs/

protective family members/

helpful friends.

My need to venture out alone –

despite the lingering pain

and limited mobility –

has not been met by encouraging nudges

to leave the nest.

So I must assume a surreptitious air:

slip silently by my sleeping pets

and watchful loved ones.

The dance that struggles

to be born anew from wounded body

must find a way.

It’s time to get on down the road

and catch the dying light.