the graduate

when did you grow up so much
that you can be alumni of any place
and now they have you back
to talk about the places you've been

you are but not yet fifteen
i see the wisdom arriving in your soul
such confusion for this mom's heart
your beatific baby smile is all i recall

your school of nine years, endless memories
it was a drive we've done a million times
moving from back to the front seat
in my car among your many graduations

i miss the days i had to rush like the wind
fight traffic, fight life -- somedays it was war
and there you'd be waiting, yet sometimes hard to be found
holding your own, only letting go in mommy's car

somedays a haven where you'd sit in silence
sometimes a madhouse where i'd have to bite my tongue
some days a confessional where sins were owned
sometimes just a place to hide from the world

and when we drove up to your old school last night
you played that song we used to sing in comical fun
when i laughed and said, what times it brings to mind
you said, "of course mom! i had to play it this ride"

how precious those days and they won't come back
but i know your soul does remember them well
you find treasures of meaning, what grown men can't do
my little sweet soul the world must have a lovely place for you

for my sweet M forever...

love,
Mom

Jan 15th, 2015 the day after "alumni night" at Bowman...

Here and now

an accident of the universe
no more that brought me here
a spark of chance and heat
circumstances

Haiku of Thanks

Despite the rumors,
There is but only one life
So say Thanks daily!


reena
nov 2015

Echoes

So won't you come and sit by me
Let me write a few lines for you
And hold your hand to wipe those hurts
As I softly hum our hearts' tunes
And let me erase the marks in sand
The stories that have kept you back
I'll listen to each and every one
Until all salt washes from your eyes
As all our time will fly away
The moments will be few and far
A single life, shorter than time
Will lay a track deep, indelible
Together a story will be written
Minute details that only our hearts recall
But every echo will live as they always have
For souls that see what others may not...


-Reena


Nov 21 2015

after the fall...

I love these days of Fall
A contrite Sun ebbs, lets a gentle breeze play 
Languid evenings reminders of my graces and debts
As the wheels roll, kaleidoscopes of life's sketches whir by...

oct 26th 2015

endless march

i saw my grieving friend today
lost her grown son decades too soon
i hugged her tight for loss and love
she hesitated, "i'm ok" as she gently shook

i couldn't bring bumbling words to account
for this wretched reversal of a universe so cruel
she said she's back at work and shrugged,
"they ask why, but what else can i do...?"

she talked of his wife and her loss
generously giving her grief more sway
saying she lost her best friend, her love
how will she carry on, resume from there?

indifferent grief sat among us as we talked
how can we raise them, lose them, yet live on?
what is the nature of hope in such darkness?
"he said goodbye..." she smiled wide, "i love you mom"

and life moves right on without another thought
while it does us in, shattering all we sought
wide open wounds bleed and there is no pause
life's unabated drumbeat, "march on, march on!"

says she's wading through family pictures, old slides
ever practical readying for ceremonies and guests
then she saw my clouded face and gave me a smile
"i did lose his future, but i still have his past!"

-reena

for my dear, brave friend...
oct 10th 2015

i'm not here

sometimes it's just so long
before i catch my breath
and half this life is gone
exhausted, washed away

so who was it that said
i could have ruled this place
promises i made unwitting
signatures that make me pay

now you come asking for more
i don't know that i can undo
those vows i can still remember
and even promises to you

meanwhile i dream of losing
myself in new lands
where they believe the tales i bring
and no one knows my name

perhaps this vanity will die with me
perhaps it will set me free
but before that endless eternity
there's a different path i seek...


--reena
oct 7, 2015
..dream on...