Page 7 - 2021 April Listen - 15-2 final
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SHADOWS OF LIGHT IN DARKNESS
Once strong arms reveal sturdy bones beneath the wasted flesh
- skin now foreign -
textured, tanned and stained.
A version of my father’s face and jaw
- translucent now and angular -
inexplicably pasted on his near-spent body.
Two sparkling dark raisin eyes fasten on my lips as I speak.
He’s all there. Witness:
his curious look
quick laugh
impish glance
quicksilver retort;
his customary attention to others with
a knowing nod
understanding shrug
and dignified acceptance.
And now, fully rendered:
his willingness to find shadows of light within dark circumstances.
He is the one who asks for the unvarnished truth
quietly appraises
and chooses without drama -
thereby freeing himself and
liberating others.
My father:
wholly constituted
a treasured inspiration.
(Written as my father, Samuel Pollock,
learned that he had terminal cancer at age CATHERINE MAINE is a novice in the Order of Ecumenical
87. August 2019) Franciscans, a spiritual director and was a staff member of the
Jubilee Program in Spiritual Direction (Ontario). She has been
a sacred circle dance facilitator for over 20 years. Contact her
at [email protected]
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