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Posts Tagged ‘photograph’

Getting Close

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on May 28, 2024| 15 Comments »


 
 
In the photo he is dancing,
his arms a strong diagonal,
his tie flying forward
even as he comes to a still point
balanced for a moment
on the toes of his tap shoes,
his body a lightning bolt
in a crisp white shirt.
I focus on his face,
see the will it takes
to make his body stop in time,
see his easy smile,
the invitation in his eyes,
a blend of pride and play.
I lean in until his face is a blur,
as if by coming closer,
I might feel the breath
that isn’t there, breathe in
the warmth of his being.
I love entering
this photo sometimes,
or more rightly,
love the way this photo
enters me until
I ring with the truth
of how it is to love
this boy who did not
become a man,
this boy who chose
to make his body
stop in time,
this lightning bolt
captured on film,
unpredictable, powerful,
something no one
could hold forever,
this love that strikes me
every time I think of him,
I still feel it, the charge.

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If the Heart Could Dog Ear a Day, There Would Be This Moment

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on March 12, 2024| 11 Comments »


 
 
The autumn rain was not warm, but soft,
the kind that makes everything shine.
Even the sidewalk. Even a Tuesday.
 
Likely the air smelled of leaves and cut grass.
Likely the birds were a riotous chorus,
because that’s how it is here in fall.
 
What I remember so clear is how you
rushed out the front door
in your favorite hand-me-down dress
 
with brown velvet polka dots
and a pink satin sash—
mighty fancy for a day spent at home—
 
and began to dance on the driveway,
both arms lifting into the drizzle,
an elegant twist to both small wrists,
 
one leg stretched straight,
your bare toes pointed to the pavement,
your face raised up to the rain.
 
It’s your smile that startles me,
then and now, a look of deep contentment,
measureless pleasure in being.
 
Over ten years later, I still see it in you,
something utterly unfakeable, wildly true,
the capacity for joy beyond the frame.
 
It vibrates in me like the tone
of a gong struck gentle and long,
until I too am shining
 
with trembling reverence,
astonished by the grace that’s here.
Even when it’s gray. Grayer. Even when it’s cold.
 

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One Ghost

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on December 21, 2022| 4 Comments »


 
 
camera with no film—
taking photos of all the places
you are not

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By Heart

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on December 9, 2022| 11 Comments »




 
 
So familiar, how the dusky pink sunset
glows above snow-covered mountains,
The color blesses me as I walk alone
while Eva Cassidy sings in my ear,
I know you by heart,
I know you by heart.
My son has been dead
for over year, and now by heart
is the only way I know him.
No longer by touch, by sound, by scent.
Eva sings about how old joy
lives on and on,
and I breathe into the truth of it.
Two years ago I sent my son photographs
of this same dusky pink sunset
over snow-covered mountains—
there was joy in sharing it with him
and I feel that joy now as I talk to him,
my words coming out as visible air
as I speak to what cannot be seen.
Eva sings it again, a descending line,
I know you by heart.
I am grateful for the certainty
that rings through me in song.
He is here. As is joy.
Though he is gone.

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