“get it in writing”

i never think to “get it in writing”

because i trust working person-

to-person and want it to be that way

i dropped off books at a mom-and-

pop bookstore once for them to sell

on commission, but got no receipt, so,

when i went to see how they had sold

though they were gone, i got zilch

and now i am hung up again

producing Exhalation, the best book

in my Nandria series

i do hope we can come to an agreement

in writing, this time

‘puter

if there is a way to frustrate me

my computer will find it

banishing my belief i am not

just an old lady but young enough

still to at least know how to

turn it on

my identity through my kids

get-together at mjMG last night

for an early Thanksgiving dinner

my brother and sister-in-law joined me

we met a few new people

and a lady who looked so familiar

but i couldn’t place her

until she asked if i were the mother

of the woman who plays with

Bells of the Cascades

so, even now, these many years later

i am best known as the mother

of my wonderful kids

exalting

Exhalation came to the door yesterday

fourth novel in the Nandria Series

it has my sketch from years ago, with

drizzles and lettering by a commercial

artist, as the cover and extended

around to the back – so striking

not that i am excited or thrilled or

anything, but, oh, it is good

to have it in my hands

longed for

so far away

but still belonging

wanted, longed for

bringing with a hug

an inundation of joyful tears

overcome

emotional blow bowed me to rest

my head on the chair back in front of me

i could not stand up without my son

holding me as i sobbed

my Ted had flown in from the Midwest

as a surprise set up with the family

not seeing him for a year

or more at a time

i knew the hunger of longing

but had not realized how the deep

the pining ached until he held me

in his arms

excited or confused

“Are you excited

about this morning’s surprise?”

from hints and slips of the tongue

over the past two weeks

i was confused more than excited

since i’d been led to believe

we were going for high tea

then out to lunch

at the spaghetti factory

but who would want lunch

after eating high tea?

my daughter laughed after parking

around the corner from the senior living center i will be joining

i walked beside her, looking toward her

to answer her questions so i did not look

through the window at my family

waiting in the library

not until we were in the lobby, still wondering what was going on,

did my son appear around the corner

he had flown in from Omaha to surprise

me and inspect the apartment i will

be moving into to complete the family

giving approval and laughter

now the apartment feels like home

delegating

a man who cannot reach competence

but has bluffed, bullied, and threatened

on his scramble-climb to power

chooses non-threatening unqualified

heads for departments beneath him

that he wishes to fail so he will have

a ready-made scapegoat

for when they do

curb

some persons feel

deep discomfort

at change

or unsettling disorientation

with lack of foundation

when confronted by

the irreconcilable

right is white, divinely given

anything else must be

wrong and therefore evil

without realizing they are

trying to restrain

vast spirit within their own

limitations

even i

retribution, ‘getting even’

are the steps a child takes

before she realizes her inner

strength and ability to ‘live

and let-live’ in the effort

to heal, not only herself

but those around her

message

the crumbling wood barn

warped boards garbling the message

“God bless America”

still speaking of our country’s love

of our Creator

musky trial balloon

wealth does not entitle anyone

legally or morally to propose

 ‘punishment’

for a special counsel serving

in his appointed office

so, your suggestion of rebuke

sent out to judge popular response to

public reprimand for an individual

doing his job will expose

the offensiveness of your intentions

nor does power warrant

retribution against fellow officials

who have disagreed or opposed

such actions fragment the rule of law

which is the foundation

of our democracy depends

respect comes hard

respect comes hard

when money is valued

when those who gave time and health

to serve others are deemed ‘suckers’

respect comes hard

for those who do not honor the sacrifice

by those whose lives are then given

in love to care for the damaged

family of three

fawn nearly sure on spindly legs

gangles away from slender stag

to stand in the intersection

traffic slows, stops, drivers and passengers smile and wait

as doe peeps over the wooden

fence she has leaped to get to a garden

fawn struggles up on the lawn

stage follows, peers at doe, finds

tall grass beneath a coastal pine

until doe leaps again the fence

nuzzles her fawn, springs over

the north hedge, which the fawn

traverses between low trunks

and stag bulls through

gracious response

quietly proud

of those who can

return graciousness

for devastating lies

making dignity

great again

in the meantime

our whiner in chief

to heal what he has broken

bit so many harmed

expect

if truth not honored

or  ‘other’ deemed inhuman

expect betrayal

frank

deciding to be frank

when all subtle clues escape notice

i have privately warned the offender

that tolerance will no longer be gifted

treasures are personal

no room in the inn

for treasures i’ve loved and lived with

i won’t give them away to family

as they have loved treasures of their own

so, a sale and lots of donations

are in the not-too-distant future

this down-sizing is almost as grueling

as getting old

family chooses

haiku

family chooses

joy of mountain view for me

with green trees for peace