Birthday, June 11

"If my mind gets trapped inside/Just roll me to my sky-wide view/Where I will feast on cumulous and light/And tell you that art with just my eyes."
  -  Jane Krainin,  with irrepressible spirit, anticipating the toll of ALS

Last year's birthday was a tranquil interlude
on a long circuitous journey
Now I walk on glass
Each step gingerly taken while
my hands clench the walker

I think about what the future holds
as a degenerative illness erodes body
and mind, but not spirit, never spirit
not that it doesn't dim occasionally
But, it's uncanny how a gift of grace
always appears
Jane's wondrous poem this time

I will walk slowly now, better to
see the world through quiet eyes,
time to converse with the ignored ones,
the old, sick, and homeless
and then to ponder all I have seen
with my new eyes

I will do my best to emulate Jane,
trying to make the last part of my life
a benediction
I have no doubt that this is my mission now,
my work of art