To honor a dear friend who passed from this earth recently,
a wife and mother, teacher and artist, an inspiration to many
of the indelible link between justice and compassion.
I remember this thin wiry girl,
hair braided back from the fire in her eyes,
looking out with an unrelenting question
on the stubborn visage of injustice,
demanding equal time in the sun
for the nourishment of wildflowers
beside the rusted tracks of a long-gone train.
She was a force to be reckoned with,
more comfort to the hard luck hill-jacks
than the elite through which she passed,
her presence a singular virtue,
discouraged at times but not deterred.
Walking through fire with the grace
of a street wise angel,
seeing through the masks and misery
with a flaming promise to somehow
make art of us all.
So much creative fire shared through the Sacred Feminine; and you caught a beautiful remembrance of a dear ember burning brightly. She’s once again elicited art through you, Don, and thus lives on in the Spiritual sanctuary of your Heart.
Thanks for a brief glimpse of her fire & grace. Beautiful. Paint on Poet…
Somehow I’ve always known her this sister of Fire and Water although we never met. Blessing upon your words.
The inviting warmth of her heart, and the spark in her eyes, are
glowing within me, . . and will be forever. Thank you Kathleen!
Nicely done Don,
I love that last line, conjours what we all should be doing. What a great gal, you knew that sitting near her at the DOW Chemical demonstration
in the big top at ND way back in the day. She just wasn’t going to take any more BS.
I’m reminded of John Denver’s “Song For All Lovers, about his environmentalist friends in Alaska ” dancing in the moonlight. When one has a passion for a thing they are indeed a “force to reckoned with”. I love that image of her you capturing her essence with a vivid word picture. It is what I love about the human heart- to connect on a deep level.
MAY KATHLEEN’S MEMORY ALWAYS BE BLESSED, AND HER EYE FIRE, A KINDLING.
JUDE
May the spirit of Kathleen tarry in my heart and then expand ever outward.
Reading about this sister of fire, I felt an upsurge within me to once more change the world with the fire of human protest. But wait…deep breath…this time it is with the fire of Love, Cosmic fire, shaped and directed by grace, that follows the upsurge into the world of the stuck and silly.
Your tribute for a dear compatriot and friend of your conscience gave me a shining glimspe of Kathleen, a transforming, love-driven spirit for justice and compassion. Your poem continues Kathleen as our persistent inspiration. There is glory here and there is sadness, Kathleen will not be forgotten.
Powerful, powerful piece, Don…
Through my eyes, some of your very finest work ever! Poets are cool.
I don’t know how you could etch such a profound portrait in so few and disparate words, but you sure did…