Apr 7, 2018 Original Poetry
Visiting Ginny in Amherst
©April 8th, 2018
By Vijaya Sundaram
A walk in the woods near Amherst
Off Route 202, near the Quabbin Watershed
Leads my family, and me, and our dog,
Down a pebbled, muddy path.
A darkly silver spring, clear as skylight,
Glimmering down alongside our path,
Forms pools and little eddies, and
Flows downwards down the slope, and
Delights the dog, who leaps in and out,
Drinks the water in short bursts,
Then leaps through patches of snow,
As she weaves in and out of trees,
A canine woodland sprite.
This is our mid-day break.
The afternoon and early evening
Leads us to the nursing home,
Where we bat a colorful, mottled
Goofy-faced balloon amongst us: My husband,
My daughter, me, and his mother in her bed.
The dog joins in once, serendipitously
Bopping the balloon with her nose,
Delighting my mother-in-law.
This is the highlight of her day.
We eat clementines, talk with
Some measure of sense and clarity,
Make jokes, hang out in her small space.
This is her break in the clouds.
When we leave, time ceases.
When we return, it returns for her.
So it seems, but who can tell
What eternities spin out over vast
Tracts of space in her mind,
Ninety-five years on this planet,
And heading into her ninety-sixth?
Who can tell what mysteries she sees,
Her memory like that forest stream, eddying,
Pooling, flowing, rich with life, clear now,
Dark now, always flowing towards that
Vast reservoir, its ultimate home?
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