#NewThisDay Writing From My Photo Stream

Morning sun on the Charles

Excerpt from “Elders,” by Louise Bogan. To read the entire poem, go to Poetry.org

Suzi joins us, and my daughter, too. We’re out early into the sun rising over the Charles. I don’t know so much about the weather and the landscape today. I remember noticing the sun and sky, blue the color of this blue evening gown made out of ice that I found in the swamp, the glittery, sexy, flimsy, gorgeous gown no one has ever worn. Lost in talk and processing, my attention was on my daughter. We took the dogs to the river and Suzi swam in the rippling cold as she loves to do. I said my goodbyes, for now, to the woods. The house needed my attention. I shoveled the silver ash, inches deep, out of the fireplace and hefted the weight of all the burned wood and warmth across the driveway to the compost. My skin ashen. I visited a dear friend who has had the flu, and brought her a spinach pie from the oven and I was so happy to see her recovering. II tried, repeatedly, to get my Aim for Astonishing weekly prompt written and scheduled to send for tomorrow. This took hours. Lots of interruptions, including the Internet popping me off and having to start over the whole thing. I sat, finally, after dinner, by the fire lit in the ash-less hearth, and worked bit by bit, through all interruptions, until I was able to send. I am grateful, so grateful, for the color blue and that the sky wanted to be so much of that happiness over all of us today, for all of us today.