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Category Archives: life
quote: Friend, this world breaks us all
quote: in challenging times
Reflection: On Aging’s Bad Breaks
Reflection: On Aging’s Bad Breaks
My first two thoughts: we get plenty of ‘em, and aging is not for the timid.
My beloved wife fell this past Monday and fractured her ankle. A stumble and a fall in the blink of an eye. A good thing we were home, and she fell on the carpeted floor.
It is a bad break to fall in the fragility of our aging, and breaking a bone is just plain bad anytime. After writing my poem for Cathey, ‘I got you,’ suddenly I did not as I was too far away to catch her.
With the strength of our love, our deep trust in one another, and critically, a resilient sense of humor, we meet these challenges and those to come.
I love what Anne Lamont recently said on her Facebook page about turning 68. After opining what is left for those of us aging who have witnessed the foolishness, evil, tragedies, and suffering of the world, she says: “So what does that leave? Glad you asked: the answer is simple. A few very best friends with whom you can share your truth. That’s the main thing”, and “we look up. In 68 years, I have never seen a boring sky. I have never felt blasé about the moon, or birdsong, or paperwhites.”
Ah yes, in our aging, we cling to a few dear friends, sharing our truth and belonging, and looking up and around at the beauty surrounding us. Please send prayers and healing energy for Cathey and a good recovery for her.
We send each of you our love, gratitude, and appreciation!
poem: “I got you”
poem: “I got you”
seated, hand on her cane,
gray head bowed down,
reaching out
she takes my hand
after a few false starts,
gently lifting
and steadying her,
she rises to her fee
opening her eyes, unsteady,
she says, ‘so sleepy, let me get
my balance’ and I reply
‘I got you baby’
she rest her head on
my shoulder, my chin on
top of her head, our arms
wrapped around one another
we take a deep breathe,
inhaling, exhaling,
until she says ‘OK, I am ready,’
and I slowly step back
Herb Stone
here&now working poetry
April 2, 2022
image: by author
Author’s note: One tender, fleeting
moment in a day of care-giving for
a spouse with Alzheimers.
credo: resisting Empire and raising up Beloved Community
credo: wholeness, diversity, unity, the One
credo: expressing reality through creativity
poem: a lament for when loss and chaos overwhelm us
poem: a lament for when loss
and chaos overwhelm us at times we find ourselves
struggling to follow that string
which runs in and through
the losses of old age, illness,
loneliness, and change, and
the worldly chaos of power,
control, violence, war, greed,
injustice, pandemics, and
calamitous uncertainty trying to maintain hope
over the fear and anxiety
of personal and collective angst
rendering the mind
like runaway horses pulling
a chariot, the body like a
bag of bones, and the spirit
like a ghost, we are reduced
to a frazzled remnant of wholeness until that time we turn around,
softly and gently opening our soul,
heart, and hands, carefully looping
that string which runs freely through
the loss and chaos of our lives
leading us to return to that place
which is our unchanging connection
to eternal Truth, Wholeness, and
Belonging Herb Stone
here&now working poetry
March 14, 2022 image: block print, ‘Mary, the Untier
of Knots,’ by Kreg Yingst
and chaos overwhelm us at times we find ourselves
struggling to follow that string
which runs in and through
the losses of old age, illness,
loneliness, and change, and
the worldly chaos of power,
control, violence, war, greed,
injustice, pandemics, and
calamitous uncertainty trying to maintain hope
over the fear and anxiety
of personal and collective angst
rendering the mind
like runaway horses pulling
a chariot, the body like a
bag of bones, and the spirit
like a ghost, we are reduced
to a frazzled remnant of wholeness until that time we turn around,
softly and gently opening our soul,
heart, and hands, carefully looping
that string which runs freely through
the loss and chaos of our lives
leading us to return to that place
which is our unchanging connection
to eternal Truth, Wholeness, and
Belonging Herb Stone
here&now working poetry
March 14, 2022 image: block print, ‘Mary, the Untier
of Knots,’ by Kreg Yingst
poem: gathering of the ole 66’ers (a tribute to ole friends)
poem: gathering of the ole 66’ers
(a tribute to ole friends)friends since school days,
graduating together fifty six
years ago, ole in the sense
of a beloved thing long lasting,
dependable, and trustworthy
(a tribute to ole friends)friends since school days,
graduating together fifty six
years ago, ole in the sense
of a beloved thing long lasting,
dependable, and trustworthy
gathering and sharing, grateful
for the story of us all and those lost
to us or who have gone before,
and our lives all this time later,
our spirits lighten and lift
having lived long, gathering still,
in the mutuality of relationships
long standing, our friendships giving
value to our survival, thriving in
authentic communities of belonging
sweet memories of our halcyon days,
together, depending on each other
to be there for the gathering now,
beloved ole 66’ers, as we walk each
other home
Herb Stone
here&now working poetry
March 18, 2022
photos by author
Author’s note: Fifty-six years ago in 1966,
we all graduated from high school together and
continue to gather regularly. Grateful for the
enduring grace and glory of these beloved ole
friends.
