who died?

 

left in charge

every moment is a gift,

and we often never know when the gifts will stop:

my dad died at 57,

one brother died at 49,

my mother at 95,

my other brother at 75,

the age I am now,

they left me to feel the charge

to hold the family,

to keep up the cabin,

to savor every moment I'm still allowed,

I don't deserve anything,

but I am graced with much,

I am of an older generation

who is driven to write and send 

thank-you notes for gratuitous gifts, 

a primal urge to feel thankful

for each connection remade, 

each touch that reminds of who we are

and how large the "we" is in the being.

by Henry H. Walker

December  16, ‘23