Two Days
Christmas 2007
Raul and Bear call
he says it is important to spend the holidays with those who care about you
he says they are so isolated from loved ones in Miami
a world away from family and old friends in Romania
from New Hampshire and their “adopted” family
from this friend in New York
How is your health? he worries
I am ok and you?
He laughs and says
years from now we will look back on this experience
working in Miami as worthwhile
And I remember our intimate talk two summers past
on the drive back from a group kayaking trip
Bear dozed in the back seat as Raul confided in me
about what he felt was truly important in life
about how it is crucial to dare to live each moment
and not hold back for a maybe tomorrow
A wise young man
And so is the love of his life Bear
who is really Beatrice but will forever be
Bear who gets on the phone now and after another round
about our state of health she tells me her two jobs
are not challenging but useful for now
and before she rings off she says I love you
seconded by another voice in the background
Two young people who could be my grandchildren
but aren’t and yet they really represent how
the spirit of lasting relationships often defy blood.
The Day After New Year’s Day 2008
Like butter clarified by a 30 second zap of the
microwave, the city air is purified by the artic
blast of cold air and I breathe just a little bit easier today
Curled up in a hand knitted shawl created in a prayer
group in Alfred, Maine, I reread my blog entries for 2007
and nod in recognition of the footprints that have marked my
way into the living once more and I wonder why it was this
afternoon that I chose to go see the new movie “The Bucket List”
because as much as I get a secret kick out of watching Jack Nickelson's
cocky display of his vainless march toward looking as old as
I often feel and my silent lust for Morgan Freeman who always
seems to remain naturally ageless
it was really the topic of this movie that drew me to pay
far too much at Loew’s West 68th and Broadway
not counting the small fortune I willingly put out for popcorn
I was not disappointment and even laughed out loud a time or
two as well as grinned most of the way through and
never shed a tear despite my perchance for tears at anything
that resembles sadness because it didn’t find a whit of despondency
within its well crafted lines and well acted silences it was
all in the constant close-ups held in the faces of two men who
know that the journey they play is a universal one they share
with their characters
with me
with you
with every living creature
it’s just a matter of awareness and celebration
there is no room for tears in a space so full.
Raul and Bear call
he says it is important to spend the holidays with those who care about you
he says they are so isolated from loved ones in Miami
a world away from family and old friends in Romania
from New Hampshire and their “adopted” family
from this friend in New York
How is your health? he worries
I am ok and you?
He laughs and says
years from now we will look back on this experience
working in Miami as worthwhile
And I remember our intimate talk two summers past
on the drive back from a group kayaking trip
Bear dozed in the back seat as Raul confided in me
about what he felt was truly important in life
about how it is crucial to dare to live each moment
and not hold back for a maybe tomorrow
A wise young man
And so is the love of his life Bear
who is really Beatrice but will forever be
Bear who gets on the phone now and after another round
about our state of health she tells me her two jobs
are not challenging but useful for now
and before she rings off she says I love you
seconded by another voice in the background
Two young people who could be my grandchildren
but aren’t and yet they really represent how
the spirit of lasting relationships often defy blood.
The Day After New Year’s Day 2008
Like butter clarified by a 30 second zap of the
microwave, the city air is purified by the artic
blast of cold air and I breathe just a little bit easier today
Curled up in a hand knitted shawl created in a prayer
group in Alfred, Maine, I reread my blog entries for 2007
and nod in recognition of the footprints that have marked my
way into the living once more and I wonder why it was this
afternoon that I chose to go see the new movie “The Bucket List”
because as much as I get a secret kick out of watching Jack Nickelson's
cocky display of his vainless march toward looking as old as
I often feel and my silent lust for Morgan Freeman who always
seems to remain naturally ageless
it was really the topic of this movie that drew me to pay
far too much at Loew’s West 68th and Broadway
not counting the small fortune I willingly put out for popcorn
I was not disappointment and even laughed out loud a time or
two as well as grinned most of the way through and
never shed a tear despite my perchance for tears at anything
that resembles sadness because it didn’t find a whit of despondency
within its well crafted lines and well acted silences it was
all in the constant close-ups held in the faces of two men who
know that the journey they play is a universal one they share
with their characters
with me
with you
with every living creature
it’s just a matter of awareness and celebration
there is no room for tears in a space so full.
posted by AYankee @ 8:55 PM
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