Connections

What is a collage constructed of words?

A kaleidoscope of many shapes and myriad colors

Which mirrors life’s nuances and commonality

A paw print clay medallion, link to my four legged soul mate now gone,

Evokes bitter-sweet memories of love, loss, and gratitude

A delicate blue jay’s skull, carefully preserved and handled with reverence,

Extends my connection from one noble spirit to all sentient life

A rustic musical instrument,

Crafted from native woods of the rainforest,

Draws me by its natural beauty

And expands my connection to the great circle of life

An exquisitely crafted bass guitar of highly polished grained woods

Connects me to the uniquely human art of polyphonic music, the universal language

A white cube with dark letters embossed on each of its sides

Opens a door to the creative use of language,

The first step to true communication,

More than talking, one soul connecting to another

A lovingly fashioned clay mug of innovative design

Suggests the solidity of earth

Wedded to a young boy’s pristine vision of how color and pattern speak,

A miraculous transmutation which induces an awed sense of connection

To the boy who fashioned it and the dormant artist in all of us

A miniature crystal turtle enchants by its quiet loveliness

And the knowledge that it was presented by a loving father

To his daughter

To assuage an old fear they both shared

A charming miniature teapot with painted floral design

Suggests the pleasures of another simpler time,

A joy filled childhood and the grandmother who was its’ loving

embodiment

A lovely tasseled shawl, an unexpected gift from a casual friend,

Her thoughtfulness touches a very deep place

Such an experience is a miracle of grace,

The fruit of true connection

A golden pendant with an Arabic symbol for the name of Allah

Represents, by its’ purity and quiet grace,

The essence of perfect love, the ultimate connection

Endnote: I wrote this poem as a an exercise in descriptive writing about disparate objects. In my poetry class we each brought in an object of special significance and explained it. The assignment was to write a poem about all the objects.