A Still Cove of Clarity

 —Poetry by Linda Klein, Playa Vista, CA
—Photos Courtesy of Public Domain

 

 

A STITCH IN TIME

Sara sits at her sewing machine
trying to patch her life together.
She has chosen soft, silky fabric,
and strong thread, cut the material
carefully to fit the way she wants to live.

She must maintain control as she feeds
the fabric into the machine,
pedaling and guiding it through,
for the needle lays down stitches
faster than she ever imagined.

 

 

 

 

IN MEMORIAM

At the beginning of Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day
of Atonement,
I arranged four glasses, memorial candles, on two
small, metal trays,
two on each.  The glasses were half-filled with
tallow.  A cotton wick
ran down the center of the wax and was affixed to
a metal plate
at the bottom of each glass.

I decided the first candle should represent the souls
of all the people
who had died during the past year, whether or not
I knew them.
With a fired match I lit the candle and invited them
into my home,
all those souls, regardless of race or religion.

Alongside the first, the second candle, represented
the soul of my father.
On the second tray was a candle for my mother's
soul, and the fourth
candle was for my brother.  I burned these candles
in their memory.
Their spirits would inhabit my home for the next
twenty-four hours or as long as each candle burned.

The flames flickered with life, casting shadows all
through the night.  I watched them dance into dawn,
wondering which would leave first and what the
order of their departure might mean.

I saw the first candle go, then the second.  Only the
two on the second tray remained when I fell asleep
again.  I thought, when
I awoke, that I would not
know which was the last to be extinguished.  Soon I
realized it was really each
candle's proximity to the windows in the room and
the amount of wax in each glass that determined
when each spirit left.

 

 

 

MINNOWS IN A POND

We create the water's fluid motion
like minnows in a pond darting frantically,
going nowhere, afraid of what may happen next
when a veil of disappointment falls over us.

Do not despair.  Be calm and stay aware.
Let the water settle.  Hold onto hope,
the lifeline of humankind.  We must wait patiently
in a still cove of clarity before — —

we are able to act or react in our own best interests.

___________________

Today’s LittleNip:

FIND STRENGTH IN ADVERSITY
—Linda Klein

There is something good about adversity.
It brings like-minded people together.
We must seek each other out.  I feel more than ever
that you are my sisters and brothers.
Together we can accomplish anything.

___________________

—Medusa, with thanks to Linda Klein for today’s fine poetry!

 

 

 

 Hold onto hope!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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