Community is vital

We slept in the morning.  It is start-up Sunday.  Balloons and the hot dog man and his wife between the 10:30 and 1:00 services.  If we'd planned far enough ahead, we might have attended the service at 8.  We didn't.  We pray with the birds outdoors, and the cicadas. 

We were going to go

To church this morning.

Community

In times like these,

Community

After all is said and done,

Is vital.

We were going

To go to church this morning

Instead we are home

Praying with the birds

Praying with the cat and turtle

Praying

Simply

Praying.

We think we will attend

Next week.

In times like these,

After all is said and done,

Community is vital.

It is difficult to wonder

We dropped her off a week ago.  The conversations and texts continue,  in a different way

It is difficult

To stand aside,

Wonder what is happening

On what seems

The other side

Of the world.

But really

We are only separated

By some prairie,

A whole lot of sagebrush,

Endless fields of corn.

The same sun

Rises and sets here 

No matter the geography.

Still

It is difficult to wonder

What is happening

Beyond the sagebrush

The corn

In full view

Of those mountains.

A quiet day

Today is a day of rest, God willing.

A quiet day.

Classes chosen

To the West.

Flowers on the front table

To remind us,

Life continues.

Sometimes it continues

The way we have planned,

Sometimes

Not.

Sudden mountains

Driving into Colorado we wondered where the mountains were.  We knew they were there.  We had the advantage of maps.  Still we wondered when the mountains would appear.  Then... there they were.

Hot and humid
Here in the lower elevations.
I would like to add a mountain or two
To Illinois.
I would climb to the top
And stay awhile.
We looked for the mountains
As we entered Colorado.
Nothing.
Nothing.
Nothing.
Then suddenly
They appeared.
We wondered about
Those who walked or wheeled the plains
Only to be startled
By those mountains,
Those sudden mountains.
I think how such sudden mountains
Might improve
Illinois.

Pain assistance

Caller ID has helped us know what calls to answer.  Most often my beloved answers any call and has conversations with strangers regarding how we might invest our money, or who we will vote for.  Neither one of us has answered the Pain Assistance calls, but curiosity may win out tomorrow.

Since coming home

We have received five calls

From

Pain Assistance.

Caller ID

Is a wonderful thing.

We have not answered

The call

Five times now.

We speculate

About who or what

It might be,

What pain

They mean to address.

We think for now

We will not answer

But perhaps tomorrow

Curiosity may win

We will see then

How we got on their list.

We will see then

What pain

They promise

To address.

I face

Home again.  The cat is happy.  We text and call back and forth with our daughter. Today we clean out and return the van to Enterprise.

I face

My daughter’s first days,

As I remember

My own:

The speed of new life

With new people,

New possibilities;

The draw

Of the old familiar,

The old comfortable shoes

In the closet,

The pile of kitchen floor tiles

On the back patio;

The tiles we now use

As a table,

Of sorts,

For garden tools.

These are her first days,

I remember my own:

The swiftness of new life;

The learning how to breathe

With new people,

New possibilities;

The draw

Of the old familiar.

What to share

Our daughter shares a room with two other young women.  We watched the beginning negotiations yesterday.  Impressive.  We know our daughter... will be fine.

What to share.

What to keep private.

We watch the beginnings.

Of course

We only see

The beginnings.

The rest will be worked

Out of our sight.

It has been that way

Already

Of course we know

It has always

Been that way.