National Poetry Month, Poem #13

Manual for the Deaf

In lesson 33 we learn
the world, which is a circle
made of both hands, and
we learn direction, north,
one hand rising straight
toward heaven. There is
debt here, too, but only
as much as one palm, open,
can hold.

Praise is here and promise,
that finger to the mouth
as if to tell a child
his sister sleeps
beyond an open door.

But the word that leaves us breathless
is faith: faith,
the palm that lies up, floating,
the palm that waits for the other
to fall to it and tighten as if
to press and save a wet leaf, mothwing,
heart made of paper.

-Marti Mihalyi

I have a framed copy of this poem hanging on a wall in my house. This poet is a dear friend of mine. I remember listening to Marti do a reading in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho a few years ago and how she brought this poem to life with her expressive voice and graceful movements .

Small Celebrations in Gardening

I return to gardening year after year because of the small celebrations each and every day. It doesn't matter the size of your garden or what you choose to plant, there are always changes, surprises and celebrations on a daily basis.

I am not a life-long gardener. I pulled weeds growing up sometimes. I appreciated the beauty of the flowers in my grandmothers' gardens. Fresh vegetables were a special treat when we visited relatives' houses that had gardens. I dabbled with containers and annuals early in my adult life. It wasn't until after I turned forty and moved to where I live now that I took on gardening as a yearlong passion.

Early in the week I celebrated the rhubarb. Our rhubarb is always hardy, but this plant creates a beautiful leaf color that brightens up the garden border. Yesterday I celebrated green onions. These remained in the garden last fall and JEJ harvested them yesterday before he tilled the garden. What a surprise to come home to the fresh smell of newly harvested vegetables .

Today I have two things to celebrate. One is the ritual of seed planting. The first vegetable seeds were finally sowed today because the weather has cooperated! They were placed in organized rows with markers. JEJ is in charge of the vegetables. He did his own sketch of this garden plot. The second small celebration was the blue sky and sunshine. It only takes a few days of weather that warms up in the afternoon to bring tulips and azaleas to life.

Another reason to celebrate gardening is that it trains you to pay attention. Each day I do a garden tour and know I will observe new growth, grieve over a lost rose, or celebrate the birth of a returning plant. These small celebrations give this gardener much to look forward to each day.

National Poetry Month, Poem #12

A Room in the Past

It’s a kitchen, its curtains fill
with a morning light as bright
you can’t see beyond its windows
Into the afternoon. A kitchen
falling through time with its things
In their places, the dishes jingling
up in the cupboard, the bucket
of drinking water rippled as if
a truck had just gone past, but that truck
was thirty years. No one’s at home
In this room. Its counter is wiped,
and the dishrag hangs from the nail,
a dry leaf. In housedresses of mist,
blue aprons of rain, my grandmother
moved through this life like a ghost,
and when she had finished her years,
she put them all back in their places
and wiped out the sink, turning her back
on the rest of us, forever.

-Ted Kooser