Somewhere she waits
by Elouise
Surfacing above deep waters
Her body a hieroglyphic vision
Of life’s subterranean journey
Through unseen landscapes
Sacred and scarred
Inspected and celebrated
Not for character or fame
But for enduring and surviving
An endangered relic
Visited periodically
In a backwater museum
Somewhere she waits
For all senior citizens periodically celebrated for living yet another year. Keepers of wisdom and history, we’ll never know them unless we ask and listen with our hearts and minds wide open. No matter how foreign, slow or garbled the language. Old age doesn’t automatically confer wisdom. It is, nonetheless, an often ignored tablet of history that shaped, blessed and haunts us.
I wrote the poem after looking at a recent photo of my Aunt’s 91st birthday party. She has multiple daughters and sons who care for her. Not all are so blessed. Though even when blessed, it’s painfully possible to be seen without being heard.
©Elouise Renich Fraser, 1 April 2018
Ukrainian Black Ink Drawing found at 123rf.com
Telling the Truth 
I often think about this too, Elouise…deeply listening to those around us. We’re all “walking stories”….gifts that offer opportunities for deepening conversion — the widening of my world to include the world of another…each one, especially maybe our elders, extends to me an invitation to accept with humility and gratitude the deaths of this life, on the way to resurrection, thanks to Jesus.
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Thanks so much for your comment, Nancy. Listening deeply seems to be a dying art these days. I like your reference to “the widening of my world to include the world of another.” My post is about our senior seniors. However, I’m guessing young children are also vulnerable to being ignored in similar ways. Not sought out as valuable conversation partners. Not seen as more than objects of our periodic celebrations. I also think your closing line about deaths of this life is right on the money.
Elouise
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Yes. God continuously calls me to listen deeply – one of the reasons I became certified as a spiritual director recently. Listening as a “way of life” – to God, to my self, to others, to nature…such an adventure in the Spirit. And oh, yes, I agree to about children…the whole “seen but not heard” thing…we recently saw “Won’t You Be My Neighbor”, an outstanding documentary about Mr. Rogers – he really and truly valued the thoughts and feeling of children, and modeled a way for the rest of us.
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What a write-up!! Loved it! ❤
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Thank you kindly! 😊
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