I walk with a cane
Hiking staff put to new use
I like style and flair
Chic has its limits
No disguising poor balance
I sought therapy
Baby steps trained me
I’m a whiz on the gym floor
A wimp out-of-doors
Summoned my courage
Planned to navigate sidewalk
Leading home from church
Tucked cane under arm
Walked just like I remembered
Arrived unafraid
My current Brand New Day dawned with the Recession of 2008. Within a matter of months my oldest son’s job was eliminated. He battled the turbulent tides of semi- or un-employment for almost ten years. He was managing to stay afloat financially with consulting jobs related to his expertise in his former occupation. After I moved to Cleveland six years ago he often dropped by to visit. The many conversations we shared brought new depths to us as mother and son. We developed a routine like a rudimentary Japanese Tea Ceremony.
My son called to see if it was a good time to visit. If I was home it always was. My son drinks iced tea and I prefer coffee so we settled on water. I kept bottled water in the refrigerator for him. When I knew he was on the way I got out a bottle of water and put it on the glass-top coffee table that was my grandmother’s. I set it on a glass coaster, one of a large set we used for water and iced tea when I visited her in the summer as a little girl. After a while we decided that water in a plastic bottle was not good for the environment so I offered him a glass of tap water. Before he left he always took his empty glass to the kitchen.
In the presence of my grandmother’s coffee table and a glass of water set on her coaster we have become friends – two adults talking about his problems and then ranging to past history between us and within our family. He feels safe telling me about his disappointments and serious financial problems which naturally make his wife anxious. I am there to listen and give support. Finally after a seemingly unending two-week-long interview process he was offered the job of his dreams last week. What they want is exactly the skills he possesses. After his first day of work he told me it was the fourth happiest day of his life, after his wedding and the birth of his two sons. He told me he would not be able to visit me as often. I knew that. I was so proud and happy to hear the joy in his voice that I couldn’t ask for anything more. This was the beginning of a Brand New Day.
I chose this theme five years ago
Inky blue sky and far away planets
Daring new steps my inauguration
Quote on “About” gave me fair warning
Step into a river and do not expect
The same current twice
My river bore me along for a while
Waves of bright memories transformed into words
Poetry sprang singing from deep hidden well
Then drought drained inspiration
I’m back where I started but oddly ahead
Brand New Day once again.
Dark and frigid dawn
Coldest of the year and yet
Crescent moon beams glow
Later on the sun
Very welcome imposter
Called me out to play
Been orbiting in circumstance of motherhood
Bound in love to three sons now adult
With wives, children, houses in their care
Problems with mortgages, lost jobs and health
Now my time to listen and support
Share my hard-earned wisdom gained
When I was fifty as now they are
This orbit an amazing gift to me
To know my sons as men they have become
To tell uncensored struggles I battled through
Reveal their parents in stark honesty
To be friends with boundaries
Love exchanged and trust secured
I’m back home my muse returned to me
Five foot high jade plant
Grows old in my barber’s shop
Fertile ancestor
Customers like me
Modern Johnny Appleseeds
Take cuttings to root
Mine grew strong and tall
Reaching for the bright sunlight
Then it took a bow
Quite ungainly now
It required a scissor’s trim
Made jade feel at home
There were not a thousand people
The loaves were Kashi bars
But two souls were enough
To make a parable alive
My scheduled transportation
Was woefully behind
I feared I’d never make it
For my appointment time
The Senior Transportation
Called my doctor to report
Their snarled-up situation
With a promise I’d get there
My driver finally showed
I hopped in and we sped off
I arrived there the very time
My appointment was to end
When Dan my driver dropped me off
He said with warmth and cheer
Now he could get some lunch
And all because of me
My doctor’s visit over
Dan came to take me home
Puzzled I inquired what he had for lunch
He said he’d bought a drink
The one dollar contribution
Passengers hand over for our rides
Could not have bought a proper meal
Surely Dan was hungry still
My purse contained two Kashi bars
A snack I carry “just in case”
With great delight shared by us both
I put them in Dan’s hands.
I’ve long made monetary gifts
To feed the hungry everywhere
No gift touched my soul like this
And paid me back a thousand-fold
