Fast Day 247 February 25 2012 {Lost Gifts of December}

Lost Horizons and Times Past

Lost Gifts of December

There is a bracelet,
or a necklace...
rhodolite or rosarine...
somewhere between here
and the North Pole.

There are toy trains,
or siddurim,
Talmud black and smokey...
fallen in the snow
somewhere during Hanukkah.

There is an angel
or studda baba...
a knock comes on the door;
standing in suspense,
somewhere in Palestine.

There is a garden,
Arcadia,
where birds sing Christmas carols,
secret paradise
lost horizon!
--

I'm getting ahead for the usual reasons. Poetry is a tough Task-Master.

rosarine  - I believe I made this word up; essentially a semi-precious stones used for rosary beads.
siddurim - books of prayers

Fast Day 246 February 18 2012 {To A Young Niece}

To A Young Niece

It is in media res;
there is a young girl dying
leaving husband and two kids behind:
one hundred miles of footsteps
in freshly fallen snow...
big-flake and powdery
that leaves plain tracks,
steps abrupt and stop -
in the middle of an open field,
and look around in surprise.

O, Sister, where art thou?
Come back and sit a spell:
annul the sumptuary laws of death,
and evoke the vanity of palaver
around the roaring fire,
talk of love once more,
and boyfriends, beauty,
and love yet again!
giggling around your High School lockers...
cheerleader on the golden shore!

---
notes

To me, she is always young and a kid, so I imagine her again in High School.
She passed this morning.

Fast Day 245 February 11 2012 {That Shirt I Shall Call Grandmother}

For Valentine's Day   2012


That Shirt I Shall Call Grandmother!


she
the world is a river, flowing to the sea;
my love is in his canoe of strong, white birch
following the world far away from me!

he
the world is a camp, in a river’s bend;
my love sings, grinding corn in a stone mortar:
my memory is obsidian!

she
flaked arrows and stone points, hundreds; ev’ry kind
tomahawks and axes: flint, quartz, and jasper;
yet he plays at quoits in my dreaming mind!

he
she braided me a shirt, white cowrie shell color:
I wear her breast against mine; I call it girl…
woman… lover… that shirt I shall call grandmother!

--
notes
a duet for lovers apart. they think of the past, present, and the future of their lives.

Fast Day 244 February 4 2012 {To A Spouse Serving In Afghanistan}

To A Spouse Serving In Afghanistan

Boot buckles in the mud room,

unfastened on the floor;

scarves and mittens on the bench,

and coats hung on the door;

and all our togetherness,

like movie tickets in a drawer…

How long do you vacuum until Christmas glitter’s gone away?

The store-bought sparkling snow you spread on Santa’s sleigh?

How long after Christmas will you find needles on the floor?

How long will we be apart, how long will last the war?

Spray snow on the window pane,

a star beneath the chair;

a stash of ancient fruit cake

we did not think to share;

forgotten Christmas CDs,

unheard like my prayer…

How long do you vacuum until Christmas glitter’s gone away?

The store-bought sparkling snow you spread on Santa’s sleigh?

How long after Christmas will you find needles on the floor?

How long will we be apart, how long will last the war?

--

notes

Late getting this one up, as I am.... well, I was going to say I was busy, but perhaps I am pre-occupied with my happiness.
I was cleaning a few days ago, and the elusive remnants of the holidays made this pop into my head...