made by

they made schoolbags for MCC

hundreds of them

she cutting and sewing expertly

in her 8^th decade of

doing

never idle hands

hands that rolled a million buns

seeded planted hoed gardens

and flowers

year after year

cooking meals and jam

canning a future life on shelves

they made schoolbags for MCC

maybe thousands

he did the finishing touch

threading the string through the top

using a tool fashioned from wire

to wind the string through the loop

and then tie together

this after life of heavy work

with lumber

and on the farm

constant cycle of the seasons

they made schoolbags for MCC

they didn’t count

and in another place

a boy walks the sunny dirt road

carrying a few books and a pencil

in a bright cloth bag

made by Sarah and Abe

maple tree haiku #3

greenness shouts greeting

sweet leaves half-formed shade robins

beaks active in search

maple tree haiku #2

spring sky blues background

bud laden branches bask breeze
sparrow sings welcome

Glen Eden: one year later

vase of flowers graces grave

mom     dad side by side

in this vast manicured glen

lawn and paved, curved roads

it’s April and a north wind

needles our bodies standing

looking down at the question

framed by grass and stone

but here they are and are not

together in this not life

not death

granite and flowers mark place

in this unlikely Eden

and we, hunched together against

numbing cold say lives well-lived

as if in answer