I am exhausted and for some odd reason, sore. We had overnight guests and ten hours of folks ’round the table, laughing and talking, and the volume went up, and up, and up. I escaped frequently to the kitchen to wash dishes and — after it appeared that the brunch crowd hadn’t budged by dinner — to cook an entirely new and unexpected meal! I need to grocery shop now, but as my bestie Farida reminded me, it’s the Hobbit’s Way to feed those in the house when it’s time to eat. I was just grateful that everyone ate what was put in front of them happily.
Sometimes I have a bit of quiet amusement at how opinionated the people who gather in my house tend to be. We are a mouthy lot! And the volume climbed and there was arguing and finger shaking and howls of laughter (with the occasional snort) and opinions waging war through the air. And there was no awkwardness, no one was truly peeved – everyone went home with their pride intact. A good day, a perfect Easter: we celebrated renewal and reaffirmed what joy we had that we perhaps hadn’t yet known.
These poems rattled through me throughout the day: one revolving on the idea of apnea, which is interrupted breathing, and the memory of Adam’s first breath; the other referencing the number of windows I opened in the house, and how many times I had to splash water on my face and dab a wet cloth over my neck. Who knew it would get this hot in my house without the heat on!? An additional six people moving and pacing and reaching and eating and laughing and candles lit and voices raised and baking done — will do that.
Alight
Extinguished. Wicks cold.
Wax brittle. Light long gone as life.
— then! Flame, Spirit, breathes.
Excitement
Guests laugh, argue, eat:
Friction makes heat, opens
Minds. Ions dance.
Hard to believe, with the rain today, that we had sun yesterday. Hard to believe with the quiet – that the house was full of noise. Hard to resist a nap. I don’t think I will…