love

Lost and Found


Having stumbled upon the path, by then long lost,
The elderly couple had half expected
It would lead them back into town.
“Maybe to the lot where we parked,” she joked.

Who would have thought the path would end so sharply 
While still deep in the woods! 
And why end at a stream so wide
As if the forest had drawn some line?

Two hours of wandering, 
Hunger and thirst rising,
These woods no longer looked kind.
And above them the sun threatened 
To set not so long from now. 

Hope draining, they stand before the stream, 
Staring in silence but still holding hands.
“Maybe the path continues on the other side,” 
The husband murmurs, half to himself. 
“Or maybe it’s deeper than it looks.”

Turning from the stream, 
She pulls on his arm to bring him lower. 
She smiles as he faces her 
Looking directly into her eyes. 
She speaks softly to her man, 
“Give me your best kiss, my love,
Then hold my hand, tightly please,
As we step into the water lightly.”

Leaf Falling

imag00562motherjpeg1-8x10-lomo

I sit and read in a cabin in the mountains of North Carolina, my dog sleeping at my feet. The two of us are alone. When I stand to get something from the kitchen or to use the bathroom, he slowly gets up to follow me, only to return to his original curled up spot here when I return. I suspect that he senses something has gone wrong inside him and that I am his best bet for righting the matter.
 
But, there is nothing I can do for him – he is slowly dying from a bad heart. I think of him as a leaf falling in the wind: sometimes he is lifted upward, but overall, inevitably, he is headed down toward his flight’s end. For the last several days, including yesterday, he had been lifted upwards. On lifting-up days, I forget he is dying. Today he is falling and I am reintroduced to my sorrow yet again. On falling days, I never know whether there will be anymore lifting-up days for him (and for me as well, I suppose).
 
We had rented this place to be with my daughters’ families for the weekend. My youngest has since returned home with her husband. My wife and my oldest daughter’s family have gone off for a hike on a nearby mountain. I would have liked to accompany them, but I could see that my dog would not be able to walk any distance, and I felt uncomfortable leaving him here by himself. You might say I worry too much about him, but that’s just the way it is, and I can’t change that. So, I’m going to sit here with him today as long as I can in case this is the day he lands and Death comes to lift him up and take him from me. It is the right thing to do, and I hope someone will sit watch with me when I begin my own descent.