My dear friend,
You have been much on my mind today……..thinking about you and your dear Mom. Did you know that it is Mothering Day in the UK tomorrow? Seems very apt. Thank God the memories don’t fade. If anything, they become even more poignant and valued. Your Mom was very special and such a gentle [...]
My lover sends me
flowers on Valentine’s
two bundles bright
flaming red tulips
always the same
one for me
one for you
two bundles, two vases
yours and mine
shared between us
better to give than receive
you always said
two bundles, one vase
too many
flaming red tulips
staring at me
too many in my vase.
Poland. Krakow. November 1st
All Souls and All Saints. Night.
Pouring rain soaking mud wet feet.
Searching for the graves of the fallen.
Fallen Canadian airmen and soldiers.
Mom’s brothers. Dead too. Fallen.
A pilot, a soldier. No graves for them.
In a far corner of this cemetery
Poland. Krakow. November 1st
All Souls and All Saints. Night.
We find them in the dark wet
Mud [...]
Dia de los Muertos, day of the dead, is an ancient Mesoamerican celebration of the cycle of life and death, which began long before Europeans landed in the Americas. When the Spanish arrived they linked the rituals of the indigenous people to the Catholic Feast of All Souls and All Saints on November 1st and [...]
When my lifetime had just ended
And my death had just begun
I told you I’d never leave you
But I knew this day would come.
From I Come In by Lhasa de Sela, Montreal singer and song-writer
Is Lhasa speaking for you too, Mom,
Is this how you felt toward the end
when your life was changing so much.
When you could [...]
Christmas is over and the new year has begun.
Passed without memories, without remembering.
Deliberately, unconsciously, I do not know.
No church, no carols, no candle lighting, no stories.
I even slept through decorating the Christmas tree.
Deliberately, unconsciously, I do not know.
To prevent a rupture in my slowly healing grief.
Make new traditions my grief counselor said.
I do not think [...]
Today is different again. I can write about my pain and loss.
Yesterday I couldn’t even put my feelings into words. So I’m
comforted a bit by the realization there are peaks and valleys
in my grieving. Not every day is like this November 11th.
I see a late dandelion blooming in the hoar-frost whitened grass.
Then another and another. [...]
I know this is probably not a great time to talk. Here we are, Tuesday morning after Thanksgiving and trying to get ourselves back into the work world. But I e-mailed you last week when it was six months since Mom’s passing to say how hard I find it some days to live with the [...]
My cousin called today to say her Mom, my favourite Auntie, passed away yesterday. Auntie was a few years younger than Mom and they had been great friends. My cousin and I have been out of touch for quite a while, but we talked on as if we did this every day.
We talked about how [...]
Be crazy. It’s all right.
It’s what you have to do, she said. Write down just how you feel. No one can tell you what to write or not write or how to say it. My Mom died 15 years ago. One minute she was alive and then she was not – no time, no preparation, nothing, [...]