a note found in a box sent to my father i presume either a crucifix or an image of jesus was the gift in the box
i talk
to this fellow every day
i wonder if he listens-
or even gives a (damn- scratched out) darn!
however
i'm staying out of jail
Love
Sis
.
what a window
ReplyDeleteinto someone else's faith
(your father's sister's?)
i am inspired
i love the scratched out part
it reminds me of when i was recovering
from a bone marrow transplant
i went to an art therapy session
the teacher went through a progression
telling us
paint with a color that represents anger to you...
then sadness, hope, and a number of other emotions
then she said
now choose a color that represents
spirituality to you
i instinctively chose black
and then wondered at my choice
i suppose maybe God felt absent or distant to me
although i did still pray
but then as i painted
i felt guilty for choosing black
i didn't want God to be offended
so i mixed some white with it
and made it gray
--my form of scratching out "damn" i guess
but getting back to your aunt's poem-note
i like the hope of the last line even better
--however, i'm staying out of jail
there just might be something to this
... maybe i should keep on
talking to him
you're not doing anything illegal are you?
ReplyDeletei mean
i don't have to worry about you do i?
i could see it now br john going to bail sally out of jail
front page photos embarassment everywhere you look
the interweaving of stories is often the most complicated thing
dontchyagno
jh
these words are from my aunt who died last summer
ReplyDeletethe very day i was afflicted with kidney stones
the stars seem to be aligned in a certain order
thanks for putting this in context
ReplyDeletei remember you mentioning her death
no, i'm not doing anything illegal
i was quoting your aunt
it's hard for me to imagine
that she was doing anything illegal though
i took that line
as a figure of speech
or as a wry sense of humor
that she was trying to find something positive
for which to give credit to the man on the cross
i can't imagine you testing the law
ReplyDeletei on the other hand....
my aunt is/was a conundrum
for the last five years fo her life
she had nothing to do with any of her children
my theory is that she was brought up to ignore completely
the metis side of the family as was my father
for 100 yrs ago the notion of halfbreed or mixed blood
was even more denigrating somehow than indigenous or indian
the metis were perplexed about reservations
and about being ruled by a national government
so they were largely left to fend as best they could
my grandmother and my aunt are sort of testimonies to
cultural embarrassment and denial
her sense of humour was very much like my grandmother's
and my father's
and it is i think derived from a french canadian metis
way of using ridiculous extremes to make a point
i've come across it in other contexts
in the story of louis riel
maybe i do that some too :--//>>
your take on it of course is correct
i found it sort of funny that it jumped out at you
as a line
maybe we should keep on talking to him
jh