Sunday, March 20, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
A Man
The last couple of days, driving back and forth between my house and Mom and Dad's, I noticed a man. He's been standing on the less traveled side of an intersection - a little side road, really, that leads to an old road that used to be the main road. He has a very small cardboard sign that says, "HOMELESS HELP."
The first time, he was nearly a blur as I took the yielding curve on the slow side of 40 mph. I noted the cardboard, the flannel, an unkempt beard, a baseball cap. That was Saturday. And yesterday, I saw him there again, impressed by the same details, an additional sense of fatigue. Worn work boots.
I headed to Mom and Dad's after work today. An unsettling blue mood fell on me at the same time I was bathed by golden sunlight and perfumed by the early blooming cherry trees. So much beauty on the edge of melancholy. I flew across the county line at the bottom of a hill, crossed the river on the old main road and turned up the hill.
He stood where he'd been the past few days, all faded flannel and denim and weathered leather and a face burnished by sun and whatever hardship had fallen. The light was red. I dug in my purse. My windows were down. I held a folded bill out the window.
He approached the car assuring me that he was a harmless fellow. But I wasn't afraid of him. That sense of sadness in me just welled up. He took the money from my hand with callused fingers, thanking me. "God bless you," I said, feeling a terrible knot rising in my throat.
"God bless you," he repeated. And then he add, "Rock and roll til you die."
I smiled as the light turned green, held out a lifted hand as I made my turn. Maybe he's crazy. Maybe he's an addict. Maybe he's an angel. Maybe he's none of those things. But what I do know is, he's a man.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Gratitude
...for beautiful weather
...for a Sunday afternoon nap with the door open
...for the promise of spring
...for dispensing - even if for the moment - of desperation
...for those who remind me, when I feel the void, how many dear ones there are to fill it
...for loving so much the sound of someone else's laughter
...for answered prayers
...for e.e. cummings
...for a house that is becoming a home
...for being one known as "Auntley Ashley"
...for being a "plus one" to someone
...for camellias
...for the smell of libraries
...for old friends made new
...for new friends who feel old
...for you, dear reader, gratitude for you...
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
In Praise of Spring
2 a.m. in spring
blooming into april neverdarkness
alive with lush green whispers
brazenly unfurling petals for a pale moon
who smiles at fevered spring eyes.
wild feet kiss fresh grass lips
lately wetted by dew's first --
poetry in the trees, these leaves
that rush against one another
like the lines of a sonnet, rhythmic
rustling words of lovers, spoken
during these hours of sleeping
when the light across town burns,
a little daylight saved for me.
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Threesdays (Plus One): Albums for Spring
Standout Spring Track: "The Wonderful Future"
2. Pete Droge, Necktie Second
Standout Spring Track: "Northern Bound Train"
Standout Spring Track: "Porcelain"
Standout Spring Track: "Tidal Wave"
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Sprung
Spring has sprung as evidenced by this little gathering of daffodils photographed through the fence that separates my drive from Neighbor Man's yard. And a little daffodil hanging out in my own yard just in front of the first azaleas. The day, happy to have an extra hour, held all the promise of the spring to come. 
