July 5: Joy

Joy

I’m not all into the grief and lamentation
Over what once was and can no longer be.
I’m not exactly in the mode of celebration,
But I sense that her gifts still affect you and me.
So many pictures of our lives she enabled us to see.

She was an astute, energetic, kindly person to know
Through the games she could play and the skills she could teach.
I recall her ingenuity, but now I let it go,
While others keep groping for what’s now beyond our reach.
Only she had the power to hold a wave upon the beach.

I wish I could share my love in a poem or a song.
It’s my own sense of reality that’s getting in my way.
She had a way of distinguishing what do and don’t belong
But when I held my ground for what I needed to say,
She could see where I was coming from, and it would be okay.

Acceptance wasn’t tied to a certain point of view,
But to hold a conversation with good humor and respect.
I’ve been trapped in my attachments to what I think is false or true.
Her knowledge was more subtle, and even indirect.
Her gift - to make observances, and not to introspect.

We sought to share our love in authenticity,
And relish our adventures:  Choose a goal and map a route.
As in art, so in life, we display our liberty.
Life is too, too short to analyze it out,
But in our changing reflections, we find what life’s about.

So we learn through the process of playful interaction;
A gentle curiosity for hearing different views:
The defenses people build and the points of attraction,
Where we put our attention and the colors that we choose . . .
Just a few of her perspectives that we don’t have to lose!