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for Elizabeth
On a day when rain surprised me,
pain did too.
You kept rising in our conversation,
and we welcomed you.
I could feel your breathing,
in my breath.
In my consciousness of living,
your death.
Two of us who loved you
spoke your name
and you came.
Surprising rain.
From The Patience of Ordinary Things (Amherst Writers & Artists Press, 2003) by Pat Schneider. Copyright © 2003 by Pat Schneider. Used with the permission of the Estate of Pat Schneider.
All that is left
is yellow now.
And brown.
Far off, a truck
climbs up some hill
to town.
Acorns on the path.
Winter coming down
from Canada.
Dying comes to mind,
and resurrection.
In the hospital last fall
resurrection came
by power of machine.
I tell myself that this will be
a gentler fall by far.
Come,
The primrose blooms in the garden.
The mourning dove calls in the sycamore tree.
Rain on the sill of the window,
sounds of every kind of weather
are sweet in this old house.
Come.
In the pantry, jars of beans,
lentils, sunflower seeds. Sesame. Jars
of preserves, small cans
of spices stand in rows.
It is here.
1. NOW
It is turning now,
the boat of our aspirations.
The wild rope
swings
from the cottonwood tree
out over the river.
Turning now,
the rope swing,
the boat,
the river.
Turning now,
the rope swing,
the boat,
the river.