“be like a girl today”
the business, founded to inspire
a flock of nieces after
her own boy grew up –
aunts are their family’s treasure,
caring across borders, sharing
summer at the lake, the annual
blueberry pancake breakfast, crème
brûlée to die for, black poodles
bouncing ’round some happy girls

most distant from the grid –
hunting fishing odd jobs building
homes incessant relocation with resistance
to conveniences we named as
necessary – independent ’til the end,
when he escaped the medical
establishment by suicide – I think
his family suffered, but I never
heard his personal POV,
can’t tell if he’s redeemed

“caught inside a dream unfolding”
her impressions, both fleeting and
profound, arrive dressed in their
best abstract vocabulary – dash, splash,
color, shapes of nature rendered
on the press, results impress
with effort, talent, time incalculable,
hers original, her students’ copies
of the prime creation, rough
beasts that slouch toward elegance

was knight bachelor, now knight
banneret – senior postal worker with
nice home that seemed too empty
suddenly makes mid-life decision –
takes the field of Family,
banner flying, flanked by lady,
two grown children, fully armored
with the dignities and entitlements
appropriate to his rank: armchair
and high-end home computers (macs)

one of the two sisters
from Tell City – same wrinkles,
frowny smile, housedress, but she
was taller, slightly stooped, with
darker hair, and more reserved –
a kindly presence with an
edge of shyness unto fear –
although her namesake (?) I can’t
claim much of a connection –
she barely spoke to me

my best roomie ever – proving
you can grow into having
roommates, better in your 40’s,
50’s, 60’s and more fun
at a writing conference than
as an undergraduate, especially when
she’s Learned Traveler with Pen
and sackful of adventures, and
writes snug in her “cockpit”
from her Evergreen home base