1.
The spiral of an elderly woman's hand
cups rivers of twisting smiles and faces.

The ever sharpening canyon-depth
carved from her reflexive motions
is nearly a century old.

2.
The contrasting colors of sidewalk concrete
and urban canopy percolate
towards the gently draining memory-ocean
that sways and drips from her fingertips.

The spiral of an elderly woman's hand
strikes against our foreheads in muted thuds
as our hearts dance nervously
to the stuttering rhythms
of conversation and eye-blink.

She redeems us with laughter
about the mundane absurdity of life.

She paints over the canvas
of inevitable endings
with the pointed elegance
of human inertia.

3.
Only later,
in our own solitary
and pensive minds
did she silently pass us advice
on how not to completely withdraw our hearts
when love wears an obscuring mask,
on how not to disappear entirely
when you hear the sound
a newborn baby makes when stillborn.

10/14/2006

Author's Note: Full title: "The Captivating Vulnerability Of Living Unbound, The Vital Tasks That Remain Undone"

Posted on 10/14/2006
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