September 2024

Oddly or not, I'm quite enamored by dying plants:
the way they let go quietly and how I continue 
to offer them water and carry them from 

sunlight to darkness

wishing for one more day
thanking them for beauty

I've always been in love with the unfolding

tulips as they surrendered their golden inners
turning themselves inside out & upside down
colors that fade & fall: I saved spent blossoms
kept them in glass jars and on windowsills

Now, I let them fall onto the kitchen table
I sit with them as I say my goodbyes

xo
​

Today, we celebrate the birth of Gramma Jeannette, 
and tomorrow, the birth of Grampa Fran, 
also lovingly known as Grampa Friend. 
We had these two elders for many years, 
yet still, it was not long enough

I have a photograph of them together
walking up our driveway, Gramma carrying a 
lemon cake in a faded Tupperware container, 
him with a folding green and white lawn chair
arriving at our annual summer party

In the background, the corn fields are past knee-high
& the sun is slanted and hazy like a good summer day
the kids are in bathing suits with muddy feet 
and their friends are paddle-boating amongst
 dragonflies, tadpoles, and milkweeds

I don't need the photo to remind me of the love

it lives in my blood and bones and breath

xo
​