On my deck there are two artifacts together that are highlighted by the sunshine in the mornings. They are sort of like a shrine. The windchime is there to remind me of my cousin, Mark B.. The gazing ball is for remembering my Daddy who loved all things blue.

It has taken years to remember these two people without the sorrow that comes with loss. My world shifted and I carried on with the emptiness. Then once the pain faded, it has been like they are part of me and my surroundings. There seems to be a new kind of presence in their absence.

I look at these two forms and see how the glass refracts the sun and metal blocks the sun to make a shadow.

That’s how I feel about what is left. The object’s presence works with light to make the colors and shadows for the perception of second presence. There must be light for this to happen.

It’s the light that makes this possible. My love for them and their lives made the missing and memories possible. I still perceive things differently because of my love for them. My reality has been changed. So in a way something of them is still here, because I still love them.

FLOWER

I wrote this for a dear friend and his two sons. Their dear Lisa is suffering no more, but her light is still here, because their love for her is still here.