RETURNED

Home earlier than planned

--for a variety of reasons--

I am sad because I have left the shelter of close friends,
the company of cats, the precincts of wood and critters,

 those skies which devise clouds for all moods,
the call of birds, cicada rhythms, and wind song,

with stars

to light my hungry eyes through night.

Grief 

by Gerald Stern

I was forcing a wasp to the top of a window
where there was some sky and there were tiger lilies
outside just to love him or maybe only
simply a kiss for he was hurrying home
to fight a broom and I was trying to open
a door with one hand while the other was swinging
tomatoes, and you could even smell the corn
for corn travels by wind and there was the first
hint of cold and dark though it was nothing
compared to what would come, and someone should mark
the day, I think it was August 20th, and
that should be the day of grief for grief
begins then and the corn man starts to shiver
and crows too and dogs who hate the wind
though grief would come later and it was a relief
to know I wasn't alone, but be as it may,
since it was cold and dark I found myself singing
the brilliant love songs of my other religion.

Now

I'll download more photos: many cloths dyed indigo,
a prayer flag drawn in fabric pens for a friend whose
beloved cat passed on to the nether world,
a tee shirt just for beautiful Emma,
memory stones, and other images
for future posts.