Monday, October 29, 2018

Rafael Campo

I just discovered this poet, published by the Duke University Press:  Rafael Campo.  He's a poet of deep sensitivity and perception.

Comfort Measures Only
“Rafael Campo is one acquainted with the night—in detail. Wrestling with the lives and deaths of patients who are always individuals to him, and with his own personal blend of body and soul, love and guilt, compassion and exhaustion, fighting pain with the magnificent weap­onry of language and cadence, in poem after poem he says to us what he cannot say to the man in the bed: ‘You’re crying, just like me; you are alive.’”Alicia Ostriker, author of Waiting for the Light

Praise for Alternative Medicine
“Rafael Campo is an extraordinarily skillful poet: his technique mani­fests itself in the range of forms he so brilliantly masters. But he is also a poet of gravity and poignant observation. Unlike so many people writing today, he has subjects, passions, and themes that are profoundly important.”Sandra M. Gilbert, poet and Distinguished Professor of English Emerita, University of California, Davis

“In a style both precise and emotional, playful and earnest, Campo delivers a most extraordinary message: that in writing, in seeing, in remembering, and in being, we embody, simultaneously, the ache as well as the cure.”Briana ShemroskeBooklist

Monday, October 22, 2018

Mimi Christianson

Oct. 19, 2018

I'd been thinking about my dear, dear friend, Mimi Christianson this week.  On Wednesday, I made a mental note to send her a card and remembered to do that yesterday.   I'd noticed on my Facebook page that one of Mimi's friends had posted a photograph of Jim and Mimi taken the summer of 2017 at the annual 4th of July picnic and they looked so robust and healthy.

Under the post, I noticed that Mimi's daughter in-law, Fawn, had written what a great mother-in-law Mimi was.  Fawn so I friended Fawn and sent a message asking how Mimi was.

I usually don't look at my FB page at night, but I did last night.  Fawn had messaged me back, that Mimi had died several hours before.  Ohhh, the sorrow.  Emailed some friends and Katherine called me back around 11:30 last night...so sweet of her.  Morgan called and offered to bring breakfast over and we had a delightful time reminescing and eating oat cakes and apple butter.

I was doing great until I saw Sharon next door and lost it.  Mentioned how Mimi had died yesterday, and how I hadn't yet mailed her card I'd been meaning to send and Sharon mentioned how when someone close to her had once died, and through her tears and sobs, she saw the loved one's face.  And heard a voice that said, 'it's going to be all right'...your friend was transitioning and reaching out to you to say that she was fine and telling you that everything would be all right."

Just hung up on the phone with Julie and we had a long chat.  It helped to grieve, to talk, to recall memories, and to remember that what a giving person Mimi was to all who knew her.  Julie said it succinctly:  "Our lives intersected at that point in time, in Sitka, and even though we all went our separate ways, we stayed connected throughout all the years we knew each other."

I feel her spirit with me now, and she's reaching her arms out to Julie also.  We're all family.  Our lives came together at that picnic on the island 35 years ago.  Without Mimi, I wouldn't have Chris
and so so many memories.

I want to name a constellation after Mimi.  "The Mimi Star."  Powerful how our lives intersected on Christoff Island.  We lived together for a time, went our separate ways, lived our lives, and never forgot Mimi.  Such a selfless person I've never known.  Maternal.  To so many.

http://www.historicmapworks.com/Map/HB/1136783/BWPhotos+159628/Virginia//

Around 1989, I wrote a letter to Mimi from my new home in Knoxville, Tennessee.  I had left Alaska in 1988 to attend grad school at the University of Tennessee.  I'd just read Charlotte's Webb for my class in Children's Sources and Services.  Glenn Estes was the professor.  Quite a scholar he was, having served on a number of Caldecott Committees.  There's a quote about friendship in Charlotte's Webb -- I think is was when Charlotte died:  "Never was there a friend truer than she." or something to that affect.  I sent that quote to Mimi in Sitka, because it epitomized the depth of my friendship with her.  The actual quote goes:   "No one had ever had such a friend—so affectionate, so loyal, and so skillful."(22.5)

Morgan commented that when Mimi moved to Accomack, Virginia she had just as great an impact there as she'd had in Alaska.  In Alaska she was a guardian ad litem, and founded the Sitkans Against Family Violence (SAFV), for abused women.  I volunteered there for a time when I lived in Sitka.  Is it still running?  I definitely think so!

Then there was Mimi's second husband, Chris.  (Warren Christianson).  He had "Classics With Chris" on Raven Radio.  What a character!  He homesteaded in Sitka, claimed an island (originally called "Geirtan" and he changed the name to reflect his:  Christoff Island.  I guess it's still referred to as Geirtan on a  map because I should think it would be difficult to change a name on a map.  I  lived with Chris and Mimi (he refused to call her Mimi) for several months when I moved there in 1982.

October 21, 2018

Had a nice long talk on the phone with Fawn Potash, Mimi's daughter-in-law this morning.  Turns out Mimi did suffer.  Apparently when she went in for her procedure on June 7th, they found something, and her cancer metasthisized to her lymph nodes.  Apparently Miimi also tried immune therapy but had an adverse reaction to it.  She eventually accepted her fate, called in hospice, and got great care.  She was on morphine in the final days and Fawn held her hand til the end.

Mimi was angry at the cancer as it debilitated her so.  She had been vibrant, traveled widely, and had hardly been sick, ever.  Lung cancer is a brutal disease and I can't help but feel angry and upset for the first doctor who brushed her off when she asked for an x-ray.  Damn doctors who minimize their patients, probably just because they don't want to be bothered.  Like the way Dr. Kelly told me I'd do great, while he set my surgery for a month later.  What???


Oct. 22, 2018


She's There
In the pines that gently sway,
in the piece by Vivaldi that I heard today,
in memories that will never fade.
That's Mimi.
There's a small house in Managua
where she brought comfort to a grieving family.
She was a peace-seeker generous with compassion.
How will I get through her passing without her to comfort me?
The last time we spoke, she joked about
how we smoked pot before going to Safeway.
What a time in was, in the early 70's,
three friends living in an old brownstone,
sharing dinners and talking about men.
Activist, humanitarian, friend,
she spread her love wide, around the world and back.

She is here still.


(another poem about mimi -- )

It's Time

To stop grieving,
so much to do,
like dishes, chores, walks in the woods,
cooking, and writing, and Qi Gong,
I'll be fine, I'm getting along,
now you go on.
Go on into your day.

You have to work --
your dance poems to publish,
a memoir to make,
the printer to fix,
a shower to take,

So go on.


Go on into the brand new day.

Oct. 19, 2018

I'd been thinking about my dear, dear friend, Mimi Christianson this week.  On Wednesday, I made a mental note to send her a card and remembered to do that yesterday.   I'd noticed on my Facebook page that one of Mimi's friends had posted a photograph of Jim and Mimi taken the summer of 2017 at the annual 4th of July picnic and they looked so robust and healthy.

Under the post, I noticed that Mimi's daughter in-law, Fawn, had written what a great mother-in-law Mimi was.  Fawn so I friended Fawn and sent a message asking how Mimi was.  I usually don't look at my FB page at night, but I did last night.  Fawn had messaged me back, that Mimi had died several hours before.  Ohhh, the sorrow.  Emailed some friends and Katherine called me back around 11:30 last night...so sweet of her.  Morgan called and offered to bring breakfast over and we had a delightful time reminescing and eating oat cakes and apple butter.

I was doing great until I saw Sharon next door and lost it.  Mentioned how Mimi had died yesterday, and how I hadn't yet mailed her card I'd been meaning to send and Sharon mentioned how when someone close to her had once died, and through her tears and sobs, she saw the loved one's face.  And heard a voice that said, "it's going to be all right...your friend was transitioning and reaching out to you to say that she was fine and telling you that everything would be all right."

Just hung up on the phone with Julie and we had a long chat.  It helped to grieve, to talk, to recall memories, and to remember that what a giving person Mimi was to all who knew her.  Julie said it succinctly:  "Our lives intersected at that point in time, in Sitka, and even though we all went our separate ways, we stayed connected throughout all the years we knew each other."

I feel her spirit with me now, and she's reaching her arms out to Julie also.  We're all family.  Our lives came together at that picnic on the island 35 years ago.  Without Mimi, I wouldn't have Chris
and so so many memories.

I want to name a constellation after Mimi.  "The Mimi Star."  Powerful how our lives intersected on Christoff Island.  We lived together for a time, went our separate ways, lived our lives, and never forgot Mimi.  Such a selfless person I've never known.  Maternal.  To so many.

http://www.historicmapworks.com/Map/HB/1136783/BWPhotos+159628/Virginia//

Around 1989, I wrote a letter to Mimi from my new home in Knoxville, Tennessee.  I had left Alaska in 1988 to attend grad school at the University of Tennessee.  I'd just read Charlotte's Webb for my class in Children's Sources and Services.  Glenn Estes was the professor.  Quite a scholar he was, having served on a number of Caldecott Committees.  There's a quote about friendship in Charlotte's Webb -- I think is was when Charlotte died:  "Never was there a friend truer than she." or something to that affect.  I sent that quote to Mimi in Sitka, because it epitomized the depth of my friendship with her.  The actual quote goes:   "No one had ever had such a friend—so affectionate, so loyal, and so skillful."(22.5)

Morgan commented that when Mimi moved to Accomack, Virginia she had just as great an impact there as she'd had in Alaska.  In Alaska she was a guardian ad litem, and founded the Sitkans Against Family Violence (SAFV), for abused women.  I volunteered there for a time when I lived in Sitka.  Is it still running?  I definitely think so!

Then there was Mimi's second husband, Chris.  (Warren Christianson).  He had "Classics With Chris" on Raven Radio.  What a character!  He homesteaded in Sitka, claimed an island (originally called "Geirtan" and he changed the name to reflect his:  Christoff Island.  I guess it's still referred to as Geirtan on a  map because I should think it would be difficult to change a name on a map.  I  lived with Chris and Mimi (he refused to call her Mimi) for several months when I moved there in 1982.

October 21, 2018

Had a nice long talk on the phone with Fawn Potash, Mimi's daughter-in-law this morning.  Turns out Mimi did suffer.  Apparently when she went in for her procedure on June 7th, they found something, and her cancer metasthisized to her lymph nodes.  Apparently Miimi also tried immune therapy but had an adverse reaction to it.  She eventually accepted her fate, called in hospice, and got great care.  She was on morphine in the final days and Fawn held her hand til the end.

Mimi was angry at the cancer as it debilitated her so.  She had been vibrant, traveled widely, and had hardly been sick, ever.  Lung cancer is a brutal disease and I can't help but feel angry and upset for the first doctor who brushed her off when she asked for an x-ray.  Damn doctors who minimize their patients, probably just because they don't want to be bothered.  Like the way Dr. Kelly told me I'd do great, while he set my surgery for a month later.  What???


Oct. 22, 2018

She's There
In the pines that gently sway,
in the piece by Vivaldi that I heard today,
in memories that will never fade.
That's Mimi.
There's a small house in Managua
where she brought comfort to a grieving family.
She was a peace-seeker generous with compassion.
How will I get through her passing without her to comfort me?
The last time we spoke, she joked about
how we smoked pot before going to Safeway.
What a time in was, in the early 70's,
three friends living in an old brownstone,
sharing dinners and talking about men.
Activist, humanitarian, friend,
she spread her love wide, around the world and back.

She is here still.


(another poem about mimi -- )

It's Time

To stop grieving,
so much to do,
like dishes, chores, walks in the woods,
cooking, and writing, and Qi Gong,
I'll be fine, I'm getting along,
now you go on.
Go on into your day.

You have to work --
your dance poems to publish,
a memoir to make,
the printer to fix,
a shower to take,

So go on.


Go on then into the brand new day.

......

"It takes time."  That's what Steevie told me.  She too was angry, tired, withdrawn, when her father died.  So good to talk with her last night.  

Not so good was when I connected with Kathy the night before (Saturday).  We'd been trying to make contact over the phone and kept missing each other.  How I hate the word "phone tag."  Ridiculous phrase.  You just add to your voice recording something like, "please say the best day and time to get back with you."

So Kathy called around 5pm on Saturday and i answered.  I almost didn't since I really didn't feel like talking.  She said, "Can you really believe we're actually talking with each other?'  She asked how I was doing.  "I'm grieving," I told her and went on to say how a dear friend had passed.  I discussed  how much Mimi had meant to me and eventually Kathy cut in to say, "Can I cut in?"  I thought she might give a few words of comfort.  But she said, "I think I'm grieving too."  And proceeded to discuss the end of a 30 day relationship that had just ended.  She'd left him a text and I told her texts can really be a terrible way to communicate deep feelings.  She offered that she couldn't receive any advice at the moment.  Paused and said, "are we connecting?"

So I told her, "yes, I can hear you just fine."  I really didn't feel like getting into the dynamics of "NVC."  And she replied that she didn't think we were connecting on an emotional level.  Well hell, I didn't want to hear about yet another one of her break-ups.  I was reeling from Mimi's death.  I thought Mimi might have another year or two.  

So Kathy said she needed to process her feelings and should probably go.  I said ok and we hung up.  

That phone call left me feeling worse than I already did.  Around 5:30 I decided to take myself on a date, drove to Harris Teeter for 2 slices of pizza, then ended up seeing "A Star is Born."  Fabulous movie, but I rather wish I hadn't eaten so much chocolate while watching it.  Really glad I went, though.

Spent part of today going through papers...ugh.  Tried to re-schedule my tax appt. but will have to call again tomorrow.  Went by the bank to cash a check, and stop by "Target" for a few groceries.  That was fun, as some sweet staff there helped me get my things and a young lady with a topnotch of fuzzy red hair really lifted my spirits.  She suggested I have a red streak put in my hair to honor my friend.  I might do just that!

Tonight I read the beautiful "Elegy Written in a Churchyard" by Thomas Grey.  This had been my father's copy, copyright 1892 with engravings.  It's still considered one of the most beloved poems in the world, amazing considering it was written in the mid-1700's.  Wiki had a wonderful essay on it, with a photo of Grey's monument in England with the poem engraved on it.

It was great experiencing "stranger love" today.  It's why I like Durham so much.  You never really meet a stranger here.
-----------------------------------

Grieving Lessons

First you cry
and your shoulders might heave.
Your first impulse is to leave
and go ahead with the rest of your day
but you can't
not if you're too upset to drive.
Not worth the risk.
Stop.
Process.
Deep breaths are
necessary.

I told the people who
know me,
see me everyday,
"My friend died yesterday."
"I'm so sorry, I know it's hard."
(Am I being selfish to grieve this way?)

I needed help at Target finding tofu.
(It was hiding behind the salad dressing).
Gerald handed it to me and
carried it to the check out line.
We talked about death ( he doesn't
go to church), shared about our losses, and hugged,
and he knows about The Over Comers,
services on Wednesday nights,
lots of singin' and prayin'.  
"It's, Loud," he cautions.
"Holy Ghost a' risin'".

For now, take off your watch,
stop all the clocks.
Pause.
Remember.
"She treated me like a daughter."
-------------------------------------------------
Love and Community One  and the Same
(see poetry of james baldwin)







-------------------------------------------------

October 26, 2018

Rain.
Grey.
Everywhere.
Air, sky, clouds.  Like Sitka at times.
Like 300 days out of the year, once.
How is climate change affecting this paradise?

Yesterday I went to talk with Jacqueline Brett,
the UU minister across the street from me.
Beautiful African American woman, hair cropped close to her head, who wears beautiful dresses of earth colors.  She listened while I talked about Mimi for over an hour -- the safe house she started in Sitka, the picnic for the Sitka Summer Music Musicians, where I met my son's dad.  We turned out the lights, lit a candle, and I talked.  So soothing.

I also spoke with the pastoral care counselor there who had Mimi's brown eyes.  She advised me about the grief group on Tuesday nights.  I shall go.  She said I shouldn't deny myself the opportunity to let the tears flow.  Alaska, Mimi, such a big part of my life.  A friend for decades.

Yesterday my phone rang.  It was Mimi's number, which was a bit of a stunner.  It was Fern, who wanted to make sure I knew about Mimi's passing.  So nice to chat with her.  They're not sure about the  life celebration after Thanksgiving.  Spring would be a nice time to have it.  She was born in the spring, I think, or was it summer.  Great memories of kayaking at Folly Creek, visiting Tangier Island, and sleeping in Fern's old brass bed.

Feeling kind of whiplashed today.  Missing Noon Poets again so I rest...not especially up for driving to Chapel Hill today.

There's a line from Charlotte's Web on friendship that I love......



Thursday, October 18, 2018

Sunday, October 14, 2018

Dropping the Past

    "Past memories cling to us like old scars that never fade.  The more we think about them, the more they feed our pain and failure.  To help get past painful memories, try this simple exercise.

1.  Make a mental list of your top two worst memories...for example, a divorce, or a bad relationship.
2.  Think about how you felt about each bad experience.
3.  Put a positive spin on each lesson you learned.
4.  Memorize the following affirmation to help you stay in a positive frame:  'I got through it, and I am stronger for it.'


     When you can find the inner strength that helped you through past difficult situations, you can quickly drop self-defeating thoughts, and move forward with peace and grace."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My two worst memories:  my divorce, bad bosses.

My divorce rocked my world, but good friends and faith in God pulled me through.  I realized how strong and loving I am, as well as why the marriage HAD to end.

I have had a few "bosses from hell."  People who were bullies, alcoholics, sociopaths, or downright mean.   But those cretans are no longer in my life, I've moved on, and live in the moment.


Saturday, October 6, 2018

My Amazing Life

Late this afternoon, I ventured over to Barnes and Noble to pick up a book that had arrived.  I asked for a copy of Fear, the new book by Carl Woodard as well, and sat down with the books in the cafe.

Since the sun was in my eyes at the table where I was sitting, I moved to the table in front of me, next to a where a man was sitting reading.  Eventually, I asked him what he was reading and  we began to chat about what we were reading.

Fast forward, we ended up chatting for hours.  Neither of us got any more reading done.  He moved to Durham when he was 18 from Florida, got a football scholarship to Central where he played quarterback.  We're the same age.  Only know his first name and what the does for a living.  Looked him up on the net to no avail.  I'd like to invite him to meet for tea in B & N.  Yes, they do have tea (blueberry, my favorite), along with spinach and artichoke quiche, another favorite.

Last night, my small group from church met at Maggie's house, as usual.  The topic was from the Lectionary for Oct. 7, 2018, Job 1:1  and Job 2:  2-10.  The crux of this reading is faith.  And boy, do we need it more than ever!   (http://storypath.upsem.edu/lectionary-links-rcl-october-7-2018/)

It's been a hard week here in the U. S. over the Supreme Court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh.  Three women came forward to accuse him of sexual assault when he was a student at Georgetown Prep.  The country was riveted by Christine Blasey Ford's testimony
and she was very credible.  She also had character, composure, and patience.  Of course, Trump ridiculed and mocked her.  How cruel and insensitive!

Kavenaugh, on the other hand, came out fighting.  Visibly angry.  Even tearful.  He utterly disgusted me.  He even sparred with one of the Senators on her drinking habits (after admitting he like beer).  Unbelievable!  This was far worse than the Clarence Thomas  hearings.  Those hearings at least had a sense of decorum.  Like Thomas, Kavanaugh was confirmed by the narrowest of margins (50-48), although Thomas' finally tally wasn't that close.

Kavenaugh's final tally was the second closest in history.  The closest was by one by by the candidate nominated by President Rutherford B. Hayes in 1881.

As hard as it was, I made a point of watching the final roll call.   Fascinating to watch the votes come in (yes, yes, no, yes, no, no....).  History in the making.

I've put the hearings aside for now and concentrating on what's before me.  I have  full plate.  Writing, job interviews, a trip downtown tomorrow morning to drop off some forms.  Life goes on.  It will get better.

The point is, the moral fiber of the country does not lie in the Supreme Court, but in a Supreme Being.

After small group last night, we went down to The Pit across from Motorco to listen to bluegrass music on the roof.  Rusty came along and he was a huge hit with the kids.  The group was called Grass Street, and they were great.  Banjo, bass, do-bro, guitar, and beautiful voices.

October 14, 2018

I talked with Bea Burnett extensively over the past few days.  So wonderful to re-connect!

Oct. 17, 2018

Trip down to the Duke campus today for mindful meditation.  The more i think about it, the more i'd like to live my life mindfully, from the time i wake up to the time i go to bed...lovely heart meditation today and i thought of little Maude; she was right there in the middle of my heart and i felt a warmth come over me that could only be love.

Oct. 19, 2018

I'd been thinking about my dear, dear friend, Mimi Christianson this week.  On Wednesday, I made a mental note to send her a card and remembered to do that yesterday.   I'd noticed on my Facebook page that one of Mimi's friends had posted a photograph of Jim and Mimi taken the summer of 2017 at the annual 4th of July picnic and they looked so robust and healthy.

Under the post, I noticed that Mimi's daughter in-law, Fawn, had written what a great mother-in-law Mimi was.  Fawn so I friended Fawn and sent a message asking how Mimi was.  I usually don't look at my FB page at night, but I did last night.  Fawn had messaged me back, that Mimi had died several hours before.  Ohhh, the sorrow.  Emailed some friends and Katherine called me back around 11:30 last night...so sweet of her.  Morgan called and offered to bring breakfast over and we had a delightful time reminescing and eating oat cakes and apple butter.

I was doing great until I saw Sharon next door and lost it.  Mentioned how Mimi had died yesterday, and how I hadn't yet mailed her card I'd been meaning to send and Sharon mentioned how when someone close to her had once died, and through her tears and sobs, she saw the loved one's face.  And heard a voice that said, "it's going to be all right...your friend was transitioning and reaching out to you to say that she was fine and telling you that everything would be all right."

Just hung up on the phone with Julie and we had a long chat.  It helped to grieve, to talk, to recall memories, and to remember that what a giving person Mimi was to all who knew her.  Julie said it succinctly:  "Our lives intersected at that point in time, in Sitka, and even though we all went our separate ways, we stayed connected throughout all the years we knew each other."

I feel her spirit with me now, and she's reaching her arms out to Julie also.  We're all family.  Our lives came together at that picnic on the island 35 years ago.  Without Mimi, I wouldn't have Chris
and so so many memories.

I want to name a constellation after Mimi.  "The Mimi Star."  Powerful how our lives intersected on Christoff Island.  We lived together for a time, went our separate ways, lived our lives, and never forgot Mimi.  Such a selfless person I've never known.  Maternal.  To so many.

http://www.historicmapworks.com/Map/HB/1136783/BWPhotos+159628/Virginia//

Around 1989, I wrote a letter to Mimi from my new home in Knoxville, Tennessee.  I had left Alaska in 1988 to attend grad school at the University of Tennessee.  I'd just read Charlotte's Webb for my class in Children's Sources and Services.  Glenn Estes was the professor.  Quite a scholar he was, having served on a number of Caldecott Committees.  There's a quote about friendship in Charlotte's Webb -- I think is was when Charlotte died:  "Never was there a friend truer than she." or something to that affect.  I sent that quote to Mimi in Sitka, because it epitomized the depth of my friendship with her.  The actual quote goes:   "No one had ever had such a friend—so affectionate, so loyal, and so skillful."(22.5)

Morgan commented that when Mimi moved to Accomack, Virginia she had just as great an impact there as she'd had in Alaska.  In Alaska she was a guardian ad litem, and founded the Sitkans Against Family Violence (SAFV), for abused women.  I volunteered there for a time when I lived in Sitka.  Is it still running?  I definitely think so!

Then there was Mimi's second husband, Chris.  (Warren Christianson).  He had "Classics With Chris" on Raven Radio.  What a character!  He homesteaded in Sitka, claimed an island (originally called "Geirtan" and he changed the name to reflect his:  Christoff Island.  I guess it's still referred to as Geirtan on a  map because I should think it would be difficult to change a name on a map.  I  lived with Chris and Mimi (he refused to call her Mimi) for several months when I moved there in 1982.

October 21, 2018

Had a nice long talk on the phone with Fawn Potash, Mimi's daughter-in-law this morning.  Turns out Mimi did suffer.  Apparently when she went in for her procedure on June 7th, they found something, and her cancer metasthisized to her lymph nodes.  Apparently Miimi also tried immune therapy but had an adverse reaction to it.  She eventually accepted her fate, called in hospice, and got great care.  She was on morphine in the final days and Fawn held her hand til the end.

Mimi was angry at the cancer as it debilitated her so.  She had been vibrant, traveled widely, and had hardly been sick, ever.  Lung cancer is a brutal disease and I can't help but feel angry and upset for the first doctor who brushed her off when she asked for an x-ray.  Damn doctors who minimize their patients, probably just because they don't want to be bothered.  Like the way Dr. Kelly told me I'd do great, while he set my surgery for a month later.  What???


Oct. 22, 2018


She's There
In the pines that gently sway,
in the piece by Vivaldi that I heard today,
in memories that will never fade.
That's Mimi.
There's a small house in Managua
where she brought comfort to a grieving family.
She was a peace-seeker generous with compassion.
How will I get through her passing without her to comfort me?
The last time we spoke, she joked about
how we smoked pot before going to Safeway.
What a time in was, in the early 70's,
three friends living in an old brownstone,
sharing dinners and talking about men.
Activist, humanitarian, friend,
she spread her love wide, around the world and back.

She is here still.


(another poem about mimi -- )

It's Time

To stop grieving,
so much to do,
like dishes, chores, walks in the woods,
cooking, and writing, and Qi Gong,
I'll be fine, I'm getting along,
now you go on.
Go on into your day.

You have to work --
your dance poems to publish,
a memoir to make,
the printer to fix,
a shower to take,

So go on.
Go on into the brand new day.


----------------------------------------------
November 27, 2017

I'm noticing the beauty around me today.  Outside there is a bush with red leaves.  It glistened in the sun the other day with its bright shiny leaves.

The simplest things can be extraordinary.  Like a trip to Aldi. I went there today and got back just before Christine came over.  I went thru the check-out line 3 times.  Once to return the Romaine lettuce, then to check out my groceries, and a third time to buy this cool, giant sized red and black scarf.  It's a "Blackwatch" plaid, I think.   Hmmmm, thinking of Scotland...I was once there in November.  Cold!  Rainy!  Got sick when I was staying at the University of Edinburgh, but oh, how I love Edinburgh!!!

Thursday, October 4, 2018

100 things

I like to write a list of 100 things i'm grateful for at the end of the month...well, here it is the 4th day of October.

1.  relaxing on the patio this morning and finishing anna's poem.
2.  ordinary things
3.  franklin golden
4.  alex
5.  mali
6.  jordan
7.  this poem:  "dancing is truth too much, to soothe the soul or tearing eye, to catch the fleeting dragonfly"...don't know who wrote this...me maybe?
8.  a sunday spent writing poetry and reading
9.  daniel tiger...so cute!
10.  mike k.
11.  my ceiling finally got fixed
12.  my cool  apartment
13.  carpet cleaned!  yay!
14.  apple care cuz i call them so much
15.  my patio for breakfast
16.  our clubhouse
17.  beth navon
18. dinner w vegan group at uu
19.  butterflies
20.  morgan
21.  lipstick
22.  having power
23.  soft rain
24.  small group
25.  church
26.  this book:  the mind that heals itself
27. my mary queen of scots poem
28.  the green drink
29.  harris teeter grocery stor
30.  my friend mimi
31.  ed
32.  spiders
33.   Primo Levy
34.  Friday Noon Poets
35.  new friend soma
36.  sunday rests
37.  2 hour naps on sunday
38.  coffee w almond milk
39.  kale
40.  amtrak
41.  getting posters made of my poems
42.  adam's film
43/ protein shakes
44. bartaco cafe in chapel hill
45.  jeff brantley's books
46...my car
47.  being able to watch the Kavenaugh hearing
48.  coffee at the clubhouse
50.  steevie
51.  not having to have cataract surgery yet
52.  anna wilcox's wedding
53.  bob dylan
54.  musical group:  the merry gadflies
55.  volunteering
56.  the gym at the clubhouse
57.  Phoenix -- new friend
58.  durham
59.  branford marsalis
60.  jogging in the water with a flotation belt on
61.  AEA class coming to greenville
62.  not having a cat
63.  wanting to meet guys
64.  e- harmony
65.  gentle movements
66.  morning stretches
67.  getting one of my computer problems taken care of
68.  the woods behind my apt.
69.  reading einstein's bio
70.  my bro
71.  my beautiful granddaughters
72.  the poet billy collins
73.  the dance workshop w pilobolus
74.  weight sharing
75.  the classical station
76.  having enough
77. having the strength to do what i need to do
78.  mindfulness
79.  hard times are bringing us together.
80.  beans
81.  deep breaths
82.  qi gong
83.  dance
84.  pearl primas
85.  chuck davis
86.  hearing the birds in the morning
87.  stresslessness
88.  my vegan cook book
89.  a delicious lunch waiting for me.
90.  sibelius
91.  quitting tai chi cuz i don't enjoy it
92.  memories of london and the Church of St. Martin in the Fields
93.  george harrison
94.  npr
95.  standing
96.  the website "AllPoetry"
97.  faulkner
98.  scientific discovery
99.  kathy t.
100.  steevie