Grandparenting is often about the times in between, the waiting times, the growing times, the times away and the times together, and all the times when we may not quite know where we are needed or wanted. For ourselves, Grandparenting is also about the changing times in our lives. Times when we are moving from one stage of life to another, from one role to another, or into and out of one relationship or another.
Our creative and work life changes to grow along with us. Where we once identified with the young adventurous woman in a film or book, we may now be at a loss for role models for who we have become. We may find ourselves discovering new parts of ourselves emerging or long-forgotten pieces of ourselves rising to the surface. And we all come to the realization that what we thought was going to be "grown up" is an illusion. We are living, growing, dynamic beings opeing our eyes, ears, arms, and lives to the energy, beauty, and possibilities in, around, and before us.
When I became a grandmother, my entire being metamorphised into a new me, much as I had when I became a mother. Out of that transformation has come the bounty of my life, and some of it has come through poetry. Today as I think of my friends on the East Coast, I thought of this poem from my latest book, Shadows: A Collection of Poetry, a stanza from
"Waiting for Snow."
Snuggled beneath warm covers,
Propped up on piles of pillows,
High in the warmth of the white iron bed,
Doll-like in perpetual pose,
Straining, praying,
Waiting for snow."
More appropos for us in San Francisco (unless of course you're waiting for it to snow in the High Sierras), is this poem written about my granddaughter. Spend some time in the stillness of your days and nights, sinking deeper into the language of the in between...poetry. Consider too, jotting down your own experiences, observations, feelings, and imaginative, intuitive ideas. You never know, but that your in-between times a poem or a story or a tale or a painting, a vase, or piece of jewelery, or new invention might be seeded.
Lovely Child
Soft, green grass
along a dusty path.
Through stormy weather
in search of a
calm, mist-ladden pond
where she will kiss
love she discoveres
floating in memory.
Her path is clear,
blue skies above
wrap her in good fortune.
While she is dancing,
crawling,
walking
through sandy spots,
o'er grassy dunes and hillsides,
dragging us along
discovering delights
just beyond our vision.
What joy and fortune await us
As we travel the road with her.
(2007, San Francisco)
Snowed in or just wanting to stay by a warm fire and catch up on your reading? Stuck in an airport, or waiting in the car or waiting room for someone’s game, rehearsal, class, appointment or practice to finish? May I suggest getting my book, Shadows: A Collection of Poetry for your Kindle. Shadows: A Collection of Poetry is a collection of poetry and some striking photography, and it is available now on Kindle. You can also order a paperback copy and get free shipping on Amazon.com.
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