I have been holding these poems in very close. They are personal and sad, all about my friend who died at the end of December. I wrote them in response to Robert Lee Brewer's November 2013 Poem A Day Chapbook Challenge. Here's the dedication I wrote: This chapbook is dedicated to my cherished friend Cynthia Rayvis Godofsky November 5, 1946 December 28, 2013 At the outset I decided to write a poem about Cynthia adhering to the daily prompt no matter what it was, hoping that my words might help keep her alive at least until the end of the challenge. Thankfully I was successful in weaving Cynthia into each daily prompt, and she kept rallying throughout the month. As you will see from these poems, she had a lot of love in her life and constant loving care during her last days. I'm sure that love helped keep her alive almost a month after the challenge ended. I thank Cynthia and her family for being my muses for this November 2013 PAD Chapbook Challenge (all poems written from … [Read more...]
Is life fair?
I'm going through a rough patch. Well, not myself personally just people whom I know and love. I found out yesterday that one of my dearest friends has lung cancer and she never even smoked. And one of the cutest little babies in my life has to have a feeding tube put through his nose to try to stop him from aspirating food into his lungs when he swallows. In a conversation with another friend we decided life isn't fair, and the older we get the more we see of this unfairness. Even so, we must stay positive and think good thoughts for healing miracles to make our loved ones better. And maybe a pretty picture will help too. Jelly Fish at the Monterey CA Aquarium … [Read more...]
Happy Birthday, Bro
Today would have been my brother's 74th birthday. I've told so many people lately about how close siblings are and that a loss of a sibling the people we grow up with is one of the hardest of all. I won't say it was as hard as Paul's death on me, but it certainly came close. I still get so angry thinking that he paid good money to make himself sick from cigarettes. Even though he was cured of lung cancer, his last years as he slowly faded away from radiation damage - the treatment that cured him - were like a nightmare for all of us. Ken in 2006. He died in 2008 Here's a poem I wrote about him that was read at his memorial service. Brotherly Love He made me walk across the street away from him and his friends to avoid me, his little sister, on our way to school. He'd rub my arm until it burned whenever he could take hold, and flicked me with a dish towel when it was his turn to dry the dishes. He called me fatso, He called me Madeldini He shut the door of his … [Read more...]
