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remember what we’ve known.
On 02, Nov 2011 | 2 Comments | In Uncategorized | By Natalie
with autumn
and halloween in
the air.
jack-o-lanterns
and leaf piles
on the corners.
candy and more
candy lining
the convenient store aisles.
i thought it might
be time
to do something
i’ve been meaning to do
for years now.
take a walk
through Lakewood Cemetery.
this Minneapolis cemetery
was established in 1871
just 13 years after
Minnesota received ‘statehood’.
old right?
right.
on first noticings,
the cemetery just keeps
going, going
and going.
the trees reach high
and the grounds are
impeccably kept.
the stillness is encompassing
and inviting.
i was taught
when i was just a
little girl
to love cemeteries.
for the stillness
for the history
for the honoring of those
who have come before.
the names.
they are written,
but they are unknown to me.
does someone still remember?
and for the stories.
is this Mother’s story
still etched in
a child or grandchild’s memory?
am i living how i am
in part because of
Mother Ida?
dear Mother and Father Wong,
have you made my
life a little easier?
dear uncle joe.
did you let your
nieces and nephews sit on
your lap?
did you tell them stories
of the world from the 1790s.
did you remark,
“my how the world is changing!”
just when i think the
world,
back then,
is completely unknown to me.
it is then i find
the statue of
the mother.
cuddling her joys,
just like so many
mothers do.
and i wonder,
at how somethings
time
can never & will never
change.
cemeteries invite me
to take a moment.
and to just gaze at the
sky.
and let the blueness
stun me.
in my wanderings
i find this little girl.
whose life seems to
have ended
too soon.
i wonder what
dreams filled her head
and imagination.
do you remember?
can you remember?
who you wanted to be,
when you were just that small?
this woman.
takes
my breath away.
i even hesitate to
take any bit of her
into my camera lens.
i walk round and round her.
stand next to her.
even her stoneness possess
a presence
that overwhelms me.
i get lost
amidst the
trees
names
histories
stories
and statues.
but i don’t mind.
because i am just remembering
things i never knew.
or perhaps i do know.
perhaps we all know and
perhaps we always have.
perhaps our stories our
interwoven
more than we could ever imagine.
we are because they were.
i am because you are.
connectedness.
those before us,
those around us,
and those to come after us.
maybe we have held all those
pieces since our
first Creation.
maybe. just maybe.
happy autumn.
may we remember
what we have always known.
– n.
-
beautiful.
-
This is awesome. Thanks for sharing.
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