D.O.A.

The first time you witness death,
you may not know it
If you’re quite young and the adults
don’t clue you in
That’s what happened to me
when I was six and
Mr. McQueen, our beloved
neighbor died
There was a fire at his little mill
and he was quite old-
in his seventies- I was told
He put all his energy into
putting the fire out and
in the end, it put him out
I did not know it, at the time
as my young eyes watched my mother,
a nurse, take off her big garden hat
and fan him- I thought she was
just cooling him off
Mother called to another neighbor,
Pearl, to please take me away
I watched as two men helped
Mr. McQueen onto the backseat
of our grey Nash, so mother
could take him to the hospital
As we sat on Pearl’s back porch
drinking strawberry milk,
Pearl told me about Heaven and
how Mr. McQueen had gone there
I said: No, he did not! Mommy
Took him to the hospital!
Then Pearl replied: Well, he didn’t
Go straight to Heaven, he stopped
Off at the hospital first.
I nodded acceptance
I simply wanted Pearl to get
her facts right
I may have only been six,
but I knew what I saw!

Tess Gallagher's Dog

The pot roast woke me
around four A.M., in a
strange bed, the heat pad,
provided by thoughtful hostess
cooking my feet
Supper conversation had
ranged from the current
presidential campaigns to
marsupials in New Zealand
where my host had resided
for twenty odd years
The resident cat, a scruffy
long-haired calico, jumped
up on the bedside table and
snooped among my foreign
possessions, hopped down,
apparently in no mood to
join me and share her purr
Tess Gallagher lay on the
bedside table, her little white
dog downstairs, while she
slept in her cottage in
County Sligo, Ireland
Got up and cleared my bladder
and decided it prudent to
go back to sleep, but
could not, so pulled out
the yellow tablet and pen
to get my misery down
Eye-balled the Tess Gallagher
Anthology and considered turning
a few pages, but age has taught
me that to be a good guest, it
would be wise to close my eyes
for a few, whether I can actually
sleep or not
Glad I came to visit this
little farm and stay in the
bedroom where my friend
slept as a child in the house
where she grew up
To witness the sheep and lambs
frolicking in the field, the old barn
still standing, but in need of repair
The wholesome country food,
especially the nettle soup
served with friendship and
conviviality… the road trip to
Neah Bay to see the Makah
Artifacts that we saw at the
actual dig forty years ago, now
preserved for posterity in the
MakahTribal museum
Tess Gallagher’s dog rode along
and was a perfect gentleman,
the whole trip
So many memories packed into
a three day visit and I was sent
away with a loaf of home made
wheat bread, the wheat ground
by my host and a dozen farm
fresh eggs
So grateful that enclaves like
that little farm still exist in these
swiftly changing times
Our parents are dead and gone
It’s our turn to be sages
to carry on…
RMK, Spring 2112.

Making a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup out of an Ugly Couch

Horrors! Was my first thought, as the Upholstery Lady opened
her van to reveal a most odd colored leather, covering my
beloved 20 year old camel-backed couch…
It appeared almost orange in the bright winter sun
Since the Upholstery Lady is a friend, I was quick to
conceal my dismay
We carried the 60 pound treasure up the stairs to my
second story apartment, stumbling only a couple times
under its awkwardness
The Upholstery Lady had thoughtfully sewn a couple of
square little pillows out of the atrocious orange brown leather
as a bonus because it was left over-Great! I thought, adding
insult, however unwittingly, to my already injured sensibilities
Surely this was not the color I chose, when she visited and
I wrote a check for the down payment- In college art classes
one of my strengths was my eye for color
Sharing my dismay with a another artist friend, she
queried, Could she have made a mistake?
Sadly, I believe she may have, but knew it was one she would
deny, considering the cost of materials and her time
I had no proof and the transaction was casual, albeit
costly
It isn’t the color that is disconcerting, so much as how it
glares its dominance in the room
This same Upholstery Lady covered my grandmother’s rocking chair in chocolate brown leather and it is plush & gorgeous
I’ll make this work, I decide, so I purchase two chocolate brown
pillows for each end of the peanut butter colored couch & throw a rich brown sheep skin over the back
Great! Now it looks like a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup!
Even low light cannot mute this couch’s glare
I know from training in Interior Design that a couch is
best in neutral tones, as it is a major purchase, however
with changes in drapes, pillows and paint, the room
can be transformed, but
not so much if the couch is a glaring monster!
Now, to make myself feel better, I say I’ll reupholster it
in ten years-even though it’s leather that I thought would
last beyond my life time
Practical, I need to get some use out of it before I spend
another small fortune getting it covered again, then I muse:
Cobalt blue pillows will give it a whole new look
next year…
I am coping, don’t you see?
The upside is: it is very comfortable- Why just yesterday
I fell asleep on it in the afternoon-right after a martini
And I forgot to mention the reason I bothered to keep it
at all is that it folds out into a very comfortable guest bed
So, I guess I can forgive this unfortunate turn of events and
Ten years from now when I order leather to re-upholster it,
I’ll request to approve the color before the deed is done!
Lesson learned sitting on my giant Reese’s Peanut Butter
Cup couch looking out at the world-oh my!
January 2012- Use your imagination. Cannot show it or I may be sued. RMK

David on the Train

                            

                                                I met a lad named David on the train

                                                from Amsterdam to Luxembourg

                                                He had long blond dreadlocks

                                                round blue eyes set in a handsome

                                                Dutch face

                                                He spoke his native tongue to another

                                                passenger and I couldn’t catch a word

                                                I was surprised when he looked at me

                                                and said “Hello” in English

                                                I had been asking another seat mate

                                                for directions and she nodded, but

                                                then shook her head, indicating she

                                                did not know

                                                It was then that David intervened,

                                                I will help you find your train

                                                As we disembarked he asked me

                                                about my journey and we had

                                                a friendly chat

                                                He walked me up to the station counter

                                                and conversed with the agent in Dutch

                                                Then he reverted to English and

                                                walked me to my departure ramp

                                                While we walked he told me that

                                                he and his girl (friend) lived in a windmill

                                                in the countryside a few miles north of Belgium

                                                and that he was a student taking a

                                                break from his University studies

                                                David said he planned to be a biologist

                                                or an ecologist-that he wanted to help

                                                save our planet

                                                He looked at his watch and I said: You

                                                don’t have to wait with me- you’ll miss

                                                your train

                                                He smiled, hugged me, I thanked him

                                                and we said good-bye

                                                David the Dutch lad, already saving the planet

                                                one organism at a time

Remembering a European adventure Summer of 2012.
 RMK 

Hatred

Prompt: Respond to “Watching you hold your hatred” by Alice Walker

(from: Hard Times Require Furious Dancing)

Attitude and feelings can become very solid-

like a ball and chain

They take a concerted effort

for maintenance

Staying mad is like bad wine

turned to vinegar-it will

never be wine again

Is carrying hatred like

being mean to the bone?

Does it coagulate in the joints

causing rigidity?

Or does Rigidity invite

Hatred in?

Do Forgiveness and Hatred

know each other?

Have they ever even met?

Or were they raised as siblings

and now decide to never

let their resentments die?

Ghost Town Poetry Workshop, Vancouver, WA

June 2015, RMK ©

Flipped

Two years ago I purchased this

cute little condo with beige walls

and carpeting & crisp white trim

For some unfathomable reason I

had painted a picture in my mind

of the seller:

A 70ish, widower

 had resided there many years,

 Wife passed away in the condo

He had it painted & carpeted,

so he could begin anew

I could not have been more wrong!

I did not find out until signing across

the state line (where I was bilked out

of all the closing costs) that:

The place had been a rental

for several years,

 the owner was a 30- something entrepreneur

who flipped it!

As the months passed, the house

began telling its own story

Blemishes surfaced in the beige

paint like acne on a teen boy

The crisp white trim readily chipped

and upon closer examination, I

realized that it was laid on thick

like frosting on a wedding cake

A pipe burst in the crawl space

and the plumber reported that

there was substantial water damage

because it had probably leaked

for a lonnng time

Needless to say, my Homeowners

covered the first $5,000 of repairs…

Then my kitchen lighting began to flicker

I hired a man to replace the little black

doohickeys that power fluorescent tubes

Six months later 2 out of 3 tubes are out again

The kitchen cabinets are woefully inadequate

in size and use of space

The paint is horrendously uneven and

I am putting off the inevitable…

My job doesn’t pay well, so

I have a new plan:

to get a weekend job at Home Depot

and slowly, diligently replace cheap linoleum counters,

 chipped sinks and chintzy vinyl flooring with the GOOD

STUFF!

 Slowly flip this place more to my liking

Eventually perhaps I’ll lease it out with an

Option to buy when I relocate to a small

Coastal town in a few years…

In the meantime, I have a “quaint” little

place to live…truly, it has its charms…

RMK 9-2015 ©

Labor Day Prayer

  Let this be a day of rest and contemplation

 

The sun has just come out today about a half an hour ago. Before it was grey and wet. Now, I can go for a walk.

I meant to go earlier in the rain, but instead I took a nap, which really was refreshing...sigh.

 I am celebrating Labor Day by being laid back and easy going. My blood pressure is probably low and slow and satisfied...

That, dear friend is a good Buddhist practice...

Earlier today I caramelized an onion to add to my steamed vegetables tonight.

I love that it takes so long to caramelize an onion and the sweet, pungent smell it wafts in the air

As I am out on my walk smelling the fresh air and cut grass I'll remember that I have good steamed vegetables over quinoa with caramelized onions for my evening meal and I'll even smell it and look forward to it...that, dear friend, is a good Buddhist practice...giving oneself small sweet gifts to focus on

And as I see the sun shining in through the speckled unclean window, I remember that later I will have the pleasure of cleaning it with warm water and white vinegar and a soft rag and seeing it clear again I will smile, satisfied at my accomplishment...small sweet tasks that give simple pleasure..

That, dear friend is a good Buddhist practice...

Happy Labor Day! Be Kind to yourself today. Celebrate your life, simply...and that, my dear friend is good Buddhist practice...

Amen

RK