PostPoems Be Artistic. Be Creative. Be Inspired!

Today if you encounter someone dealing with grief or sadness

may it be part of your plan…

to help ease their grief…their sadness

any way you can.

 On the first day of the new year in a nature preserve not far from our home

we ran across a Wind Phone when on our visit to a giant gnome.

The 17’ tall gnome (whose name is Gnomeo) was impressive

and a fun way to start the day…

but what caught our eyes and touched our hearts was the Wind Phone

one short walk away.

In 2010, after his cousin died, Itaru Sasaki, who lives in Otsuchi, Japan 

had this notion…

To build a phone booth with a disconnected phone on a grassy hill

overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

When his cousin died Itaru was crestfallen, despondent…dejected….

and he used this phone to express his grief and to his cousin stay connected.

Itaru would enter the booth, pick up the phone and talk to his cousin…

on those days he was feeling low.

He believed his words would be taken by the wind to exactly where they needed to go.

A year later, after a tsunami hit Otsuchi, Itaru found in his grief he wasn’t alone…

and with his permission people began lining up to talk to lost loved ones on his phone. 

When word got out people form all over came to Itaur’s phone…

which today still makes him stop and grin….

as they call loved ones they have lost and send their words out on the wind.

Now…you can find wind phones all over the world…

200 in the United States alone…

and Deborah and I were happy to have happened on this phone….

to sit for a moment in solitude…sifting through memories we’ve amassed…

and to send our voices on the wind to people we love who’ve passed.

Of the 200 wind phones in this country…

how lucky were we to find one so close to home….

while walking in a nature preserve…

just a few steps from a gnome.

The next time a natural disaster strikes…whether it be a tsunami or

hurricane from the oceans, a flood from the rivers…or a tornado from the skies 

notice how, all over the world, you see the same sadness…

the same sorrow, the same tears in everybody’s eyes.

And when we kill each other because of our differences…

our different countries, different lifestyles, the different Gods in whom we believe…

at the funeral of those we’ve killed…or who’ve killed us…

notice….how similar we all grieve.

When a bomb or a bullet kills a baby…whether in Palestine or Tel-Aviv

notice, as you watch the mothers at the funerals,

how similar they all grieve.

All the tears we cry are the same…

whether it’s a natural disaster…or an unnatural disaster we create…

no matter our religion, our politics…if we are gay…or we are straight.

Grieving is universal…it’s something we all share…

in every corner of the world…both near and far….

I only wish….

before the funerals…

we’d realize

how similar we are.

 On the beach of the island where we love to take a morning walk…

there…down by the sea…

all alone looking out at the ocean stands an old red mangrove tree.

Over the years she has weathered a multitude of storms…

that have left her branches contorted and a little deformed.

I suppose when I stop and think about it…she is a lot like me

and why this sentinel of the beach is a treasured and favorite tree.

We heard the hurricane…as she departed our island

took the entire beach with her back to the sea….

And with it, we’re afraid, our favorite red mangrove tree.

With a hurricane that took so many lives and homes as she barreled in from the sea

Why, you may wonder, are we upset over one old red mangrove tree?

Because when this storm hit Florida and then up into the country she marched through

every person, pet, house and possession lost…was someone’s favorite too.

So many people are grieving today…over losing a loved one, a house

their favorite photos. pet or teddy bear….

Someone or something special to them…that, today, is no longer there.

It’s an individual and collective grief…brought upon us from this monster of the sea….

symbolized today…by one old red mangrove tree.

The hour of dread, with soft paws and long whiskers,
Nears its cruel crescendo, as the twilight bleeds
Into darkened silence. Green eyes, orbs of emerald,
Hold galaxies of grief, as if understanding
The inevitable decision, kind but unbearable.

Mr Kitty, you’ve stalked shadows and sunbeams,
In this house of loving dreams. Now,
The shadow looms larger and devours the light.
Your purrs, once symphonies in the quiet night,
Diminish, a tremor in the cold winter air.

Cancer gnaws at you, a voracious ghost,
A dark star in the velvet sky of your mouth,
While I, the unwilling god, hold the power
To halt your descent into the abyss,
Yet tremble at the gravity of our goodbye.

How does one render mercy, when mercy
Is a sharpened blade? The decision, a bitter promise,
Etched in the ledger of love and loss.
I choke on the syllables of farewell,
My heart a shattered vessel.

You, in your tuxedo coat, an elegant spectre,
Press against my hand, unaware of time's cruelty.
I search for solace in your calm as if
You’ve found peace in the acceptance,
Of a fate that I cannot fathom.

This difficult choice, a merciful surrender,
To spare you immeasurable pain,
The indignity of losing autonomy,
A kindness carved from sorrow,
To preserve the dignity that you deserve.

Forgive me, Mr Kitty, for playing god
In this charade of mercy and despair.
Know that love has carved this path,
And in the twilight of our shared existence,
Your memory will burn, unquenchable, real and eternal.

As the final hour approaches, know I’ll hold you close,
A lifeline in the storm of sorrow.
Your green eyes, lanterns of ancient wisdom,
Guide me through the darkness, whispering
That release is not an end, but a gentle beginning.