Common Threads

 

Christmas Day Play by Play 

Awake early (6:00), take dogs out

I think Dad has pneumonia ~ he’s

hacking up chunks of lung 

Breathing treatment for Dad – albuterol through the nebulizer 

and a pot of perked coffee

bowls of cereal for breakfast – Special K fruit and yogurt, Blueberry shredded wheat 

Dog play, 

brother ambles downstairs

girlfriend follows

A successful hunt: ginger for Ginger for nausea – Dramamine naturals and crystallized peppermint ginger, ginger ale 

Slice a Georgia Fruitcake gift for snacks 

Bully sticks and dog treat puzzle fun

Gift exchange – picnic blanket for us, trip starter fund and carnival glass,

Eisenhower coins, half and whole dollars, poetry book and pictures 

For Dad: coffee and The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles, stocking with candy and coal

For Ginger: Inis, Seeing Beautiful Again by Lysa Terkeurst, stocking with candy and coal

For Ken: The Lincoln Highway, binoculars, stocking with candy and coal 

For them: Orange Spice Potpourri 

Girls FaceTime from

Nashville 

Open gifts – 

For Mallory: money, fragrance, bracelets, Ancestry DNA

For Ansley: money, books, Bible, bracelets 

Aidan calls: his Santa gift four wheeler tour with emphasis on the Razor helmet 

Another breathing treatment for Dad 

Pack pimento cheese sandwiches, chips, drinks, cookies, and fudge for the road and hug goodbyes 

Oops! Two

Shirts, hairspray, a jacket forgotten –

• run outside to return to a leaving car 

Family leaves, Dad gets lost

     then found

that happens to all of us sometimes 

Everyone gets back on track 

Strip upstairs sheets, wash towels and linens 

Shower, get dressed and put on makeup 

Visit with Jack – Mythbusters shows – a trebuchet, steel tanker implosion, boat out of the water explosion 

Gift exchange – for us, money 

For Jack – the beautiful fiber optic four foot Christmas Tree on the coffee table, a Cobra keychain and Cobra Parking sign 

Noticing things – 

Papers lined up on the counter in sequential to do order,

plants from Pat’s funeral, needing water to perk up a bit 

“Pat’s Kitchen” towel hanging on the double oven door – she’s still a little here 

Return a nebulizer to Kyle and Beth

Call from Dad, then Ken – they’re home. 

shrimp and ham dinner,

cornbread and unsweet tea with Jack and Andrew 

Call from

Marshall: Merry Christmas and Santa was good, 

Plan to get together this week 

 

When Will One Day Come?

I cry for justice ~

have a fight-filled grief that rolls 

a hurtpath of suffering, spilling down; 

dream in slo-mo, like

that trickle of rushing waters –

one from whose wellsprings night and 

day spew forth righteousness 

 

Fighting Monsters

Apple Crown Royal

a teaspoon of lemon juice 

one squeeze of honey 

tackling a bad cough 

nighttime monsters rear their heads

we beat them back down 

 

Peace 

Home, sleeping in peace 

cocooned from the world’s worries

sanctuary space 

 

Finding Home 

Facebook lights up with 

pictures of friends 

traveling-

one of my favorite things to do

but lately 

my senses are heightened

with longing for

trees of my town 

shops on the square

breeze of the farm

   wind chimes tingling 

fences saddling the rolling hills

long winding gravel driveway

   rocks crunching under tires 

our house on the backside of nowhere

privacy and tranquility 

    of no neighbors keeping tabs 

three dogs who believe 

   our favorite chair is plenty 

     big enough for all

fireplace and books,

  teabags and rag quilt throws

    sherpa slippers and porch swing 

snippets of everywhere else 

make leaving home 

finding it

 

In a haunted jewelry box

a platinum wedding band of 

an unknown groom 

worn and found on the ground 

by a donation bin 

advertised, unclaimed 

an accidental loss 

or intended donation?

waiting on a heartvein finger 

of someone in love

there is a story 

that cannot yet be told

 Not Yet 9

In a haunted jewelry box

where a gold Playboy bunny ring 

with a diamond always  

echoed shadowy laughter 

from its sentimental corner 

found by a high school friend 

received as a gag gift 

there is a story 

that cannot yet be told 

 

In a haunted jewelry box

an engagement ring 

and wedding band 

once clamped tightly in its box

with a receipt from 1985

Levy Jewelers in the 

Savannah, Georgia mall

one oval quarter carat diamond

two smaller round ones on each side 

cursed in its hope for a future bride 

waiting for a way to shine again 

there is a story 

that cannot yet be told 

 Not Yet 7

In a haunted jewelry box 

where a wedding band 

worn by my great great grandmother

given to me as a gift from

my parents at my first wedding 

once tucked safely in the ring folds 

waiting for a granddaughter’s wedding to continue the legacy 

there is a story 

that cannot yet be told 

 

Not Yet 6

In a haunted jewelry box 

where a gold Omega chain-

an anniversary gift with slides

that came as later gifts-

diamond slide

amethyst slide and others 

once safely nestled in its 

velvet and satin buttoned case

there is a story 

that cannot yet be told