Family Jewels

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vulture Family Tree

 

They mate for life.

family

Mother went up for atrial stenosis surgery

UCLA sent her home

Some emergency...

Vultures soar on thermals with their kin

I see my tree moving away

After building a dynasty

abandoned

orphaned

Plucked to DNA thin.

Then Healed by time.

PTSD soldier resting on a limb.

Surrounded by almond blossoms with heady fragrance.

Perfumers’ choose frankincense, the notes sing a familiar song.

Grandma’s cologne causes sleeplessness.

I miss the girlies.

In their growth.

In their journeys.

I love them as my own

Barberries, pomegranate seeds and

chunky ruby beads repair a broken spirit.

My brother witnessed his heart on a table.

The anesthesiologist gave him remedy.

A pump kept him going.

A California condor elegy?

Find a breeding program for positivity.

 

 





Our Lady of Guadalupe Jewelry

Vulture photograph from my trip to Africa

Run For Your Life

Hanging Lake

Run For Your Life

You finished hundreds of triathlons.

The days ahead look dark.

You don’t have enough:

money, strength, business, chances,

lawyers, equity, outs, luck, and do- overs.

It seems.

Writing on the shower wall,

in the steam, sums of numbers might

fix the problems.

In the moonlight you lose that thread

on the last button and think of quitting.

Mind hurting and body tripping-

Do not give up.

I will be a better friend and lover.

With the patience of a Buddha smile,

Wisdom of words to make it

All better.

It’s a dandelion wish fuzzy and full of

wind to make it fly.

I will get up and try again.

I miss your breath next to me,

I long to hear you snore.

I will be more.

I love you my dear heart.

Here is the winning lotto ticket, keep it dry.

Say it out loud with me,

hearing your

plan for confident recovery for bountiful success,

is half the race.

“I will overcome.”

Forget the crows, the State Board, the negativity,

and broken glass along the trail.

You made it up the God Damn hill before.

This process tears at every muscle you own:

You will overcome.

I will be a better friend.

I am here listening to your heart.

When I send befuddled messages know –

I miss you.

To hear your breathing hard after the long climb to the finish line.

I believe in you.

You are my Superman.

Caroline Gerardo