Tell me the story of your life.
Tell me whose gentle touch brought you comfort
And how you conjured their memory
When you were alone and unwell.
How they held your face and your gaze.
Tell me of the times you were smiling.
When you were reeling in delight and
Feeling the bounty of love in abundance.
When everything fit right. Felt right.
Tell me of when sorrow took your breath and your strength.
And please tell me how you found your feet,
Lifted your gaze,
And gave your trust to possibility.
How you asked yourself to believe
That this too would pass
Even when it had not passed.
Tell me about your thoughts in the dim of the morning
When there is fellowship bubbling
Outside the bedroom door.
Tell me what fragrance you breathe
That reminds you of your mother.
Of whatever may signal calm:
Fresh bread, wood smoke.
Lake water, petrichor.
Popeye Cigarettes.
Tell me of all the wonder you hope for
And seek to be yours.
To see a pair of sandhill cranes browsing in a creek.
A swallowtail upon your hand.
A lunar eclipse on the day of your birth.
Tell me the story of your life
So that it may become lore.
Become song.
Become indelible
As it writes itself upon my heart.
That was very beautiful, Belle
I can hear in a special song