Ariel Anthology 2017 - two poems
Vincent's Sunflowers
was your favorite painting,
dangling above the desk in the den.
Those sunny flowers plucked
into a vase then painted against a wall of blue.
Did they remind you of sunnier days?
Did you feel his struggle too,
waiting for your dark cloud
to lift like these yellow faces
framed, reaching toward light?
Love Song
(For John at age 70)
We are at a solstice
entering the shortening years
that are rumored to be golden.
Oh some are, those days we paddle
to the edge of summer light
across mirror of lake under a traveling sun.
With how bright we still feel,
how can our time be more than half over
as we count children raised, meals cooked,
journeys to the woods, campfires made, trails hiked.
How will it be going into that good night?
Those close calls - cancer, chemo, recovery
have taught us to linger, hug in the kitchen
give love pats on the bum, drink slow sips of wine,
and know every sunset is a gift.