The cat's meow

We are writing from the First person perspective today  @          dversepoets.com

Of the morn, my gold-green eyes
meet hers, hazel, as we lay supine
Impressions left in bed sheets
when we arise
to a new day's dewy shine
Quivering and cold,
last night outside,
my coat shimmered
under the moon
racing with my shadow
I ran inside to the warm fire,
but none too soon
                                                                                         

I see her as an angel,
Our yin and yang in balance,
so no coincidence -
our lives are naturally spun
into our own honeycomb,
Fate must have led her to me;
it's just the two of us,
you see

Her breath is uneven when
she holds me close
I snuggle against her body
to calm her anxiousness

I watch how birds land
on her shoulders when she calls;
with a single wave of her arm,
flowers spring up the garden wall
Seasons collide, the earth moves,
and life goes on,                                                                                              
but we live on Island time
I nap on her lap and we dream
of riding giant mice and
chasing birds back into the trees

I will keep her young by
playing with balls of yarn
I kiss her hand, put my paw
on her arm
She combs my hair,                                                                         
one hundred strokes a day,

serves me a queen's fare,
cream on whiskers with whey
I can't turn back the page to yesterday,
but I will escort her across every
bridge along the way  
A privilege to be with her
(she thinks of me the same)
I lick her tears of joy and sadness away 

This vessel called love transports us
to where we belong,
and where we long to stay.

                                                                          

                                                                                    

Lifelong friends...

Karin at dversepoets.com       asks us to write slant poems today; also called
 half rhymes, there are words that sound alike but don't quite rhyme for a bit of surprise 
or variety.  Yeats was a master.



Lifelong friends found their way 
to my doorstep recently

We had lost track for more than a decade, 
familiar faces, voices dear

Touching again that special place

tucked inside my heart

since we first met in '68,
and their old pickup decked out
 with zebra art,
 black and white striped paint

Young marrieds with babies,
sharing walks with strollers to the zoo;

 and time passed after we moved away
Some Christmas cards in the mail,
then, suddenly, a wedding or two 

Now no longer in our prime,
now we laugh, talk and cry
a tear or two
It's humbling when lives cross again; 

guess it's true what's said of time 

So if your thoughts can travel 
through the wind across space,

 conscious desires can be channeled -
 soon to arrive at your gate

 

Latest mini-reunion Washougal WA...

Last week six former classmates and two of their spouses met at the Fields' cabin on the Washougal River for a mini-reunion.  From time to time other guests have been invited..so usually there are a couple more people. It was a beautiful day of 76 degree weather.  Three of us arrived early bringing salads, meat and cheese for sandwiches, snacks and drinks. Dessert was going to be a blackberry cobbler but this year the berries are slow to ripen.  We had pineapple upside down cake instead.

Kathy Y. and Linda D.                                                                                                                   View from porch
                                    

         Jim & Pam


       

James, Linda, Kathy Y., Me, Laura, Susie

If I were to describe the personalities of each   of these people,  I'm not sure I would do them justice.  All are very special people with many talents and accomplishments and now, much more wisdom.  Most have college degrees; some of us went our own ways, leaving the small town life for the city; others returned to White Salmon after going to college or working and raised their own children there, just as we grew, with similar childhoods, the usual haunts, places to swim and explore, and playing in school sports or participating in the chorus or band or shop,    just as we did, creating their own memories.  And, they cheered for the same teams and wore the same red and white colors of the Bruins.  Here is Laura in the kitchen of the cabin. 

                                                                                                                                 

                                                                                                                                                                                  

Columbia High School                                                                                  Kathy Y. and Susie

                                                         

                  Washougal River                                                                 Photo by Mary Fields

Former teachers were a familiar topic of conversation.  Each visit we learn things about each other we never knew before and our relationships have grown from school friends and neighbors into adult, lifelong friendships.  We are now past middle age and turning 65 this next year. Susie and Laura and Kathy Y. are the world travelers.  Now Kathy G., Kathy Y. had just married off her only daughter who had just received a doctorate in pharmacology.  Linda provides a lot of common sense and a great sense of humor. Jim loves to hunt and fish.  At this writing, I still have not been to Ireland.  I've actually been here before...when we were young,  Laura and the family invited me to to the river where we rode inner tubes down the small rapids and swam.We floated in the water for hours.  


Some of us back to White Salmon regularly.  Not all of us have grandchildren, but we all talk fondly about our parents who are mostly gone now but who all knew each other back then and worked in town for the grocery store, school, bank, post office, law office, and newspaper and cleaners.  One had a furniture business and another worked for the city, all in close proximity of one another.  They played cards together, went camping next to each other and attended school concerts and plays to see us perform.  Living in town for most of those years, I lived on Green St. and Laura live right behind me.  We played, even after dark,  winter, summer, spring, and fall  throughout our lives.  This is Jewett Avenue, the main road going through downtown White Salmon.                                                                                                                                                                   

                                                                                              
 Fields' cabin                                                                                                                                                                                                      



The cabin is cozy and small, well situated and fully equipped.  Newly constructed, it has a kitchen, living room, shower and upstairs loft/bedroom.  There is a bathroom connected.  It looks across the river to a swimming hole where there is a rope to swing on. Only Laura went for a swim across the river as I preferred wading. 'Laura's sister Mary has stayed here for weeks at a time and their mother, Inez, lived here for many years on over 400 acres.

         

                                                           
                                                                                                                                             Photos by Mary Fields and Kathy R.

One can hear the babbling sound of the river on the rocks and find agates if one spends the time looking.  The breeze was just right as we ate on the porch with the view. A pleasant, leisurely day was spent catching up on each others' lives with lots of laughter and stories, about which no one who wasn't a friend for 60 years would understand.  All of us had been in kindergarten together at the White Salmon Elementary School, grew up through the 12 grades including summertimes at the pool and finally graduated together in 1965.  I get sentimental each time we get together and it's been four times since 2006.  However, three of the gals have been seeing each other there for much longer than that.  It took me 45 years for me to reconnect with these people.  

Middle back row:
Bobby, Carla, Anne H., Susie, Kathy Y. Florence,  Me,
Roy, Linda D., Lee
Front row, right: Diana, Dennis

                                                                              Back row: left, Phil, middle,  Linda Z., far right, Laura...and so many more friends..

I suppose we will all try to keep these annual summer engagements for as many summers as we may have the good health to do so and for as long as the Fields family kindly allows us to visit this tranquil place. We will have lots to talk about and the trees record our conversations.  Well, they say walls have ears!

Friendship Exercise

Tea is a symbol and common element of friendship, but more than that it is a wonderful antidote for tired feet after shopping with a friend.  It is good for a weary mind, medicinal purposes and goes especially well with freshly baked scones (with the jam, lemon curd and Devonshire Cream).  Good conversation and laughter can be had as friends pass a leisurely afternoon talking over life dilemmas, the latest news, and trade interesting stories.  Friendships are cultivated further with a generous pot of tea on the table for refills.  This I drew amateurishly today with oil pastel crayons...not sure if I like them very much, and will try sketching with pencils and perhaps getting out the old brush.  I used the photo enhancer from piknik to embellish it a bit.  The splotches are mistakes ;-) More examples of like artwork will spring up here from time to time with some poetry, if I'm inspired.  I am testing the waters with my big toe, creatively.
And soon, I hope to begin the photography...all as hobbies, mind you....

The setting could be anywhere, at home in the kitchen or on a porch, or in a lovely tea room with old tables and chairs, wallpaper with flowers and lace curtained windows overlooking a quaint garden.   Regardless, it is when moments turn into hours,  as if time almost stands still.  Low voices can be heard, but the atmosphere is relaxed. Seasons are celebrated and birthdays remembered each year.  Precious memories are made over and again, with a true friend, or two, or more.  Divine!