Autumn Afternoon

View from Fairbanks Bridge, Farmington, ME

In late September I did a presentation of my poetry at the Rangeley Public Library. This was a special spot for me because Barry and I met in Rangeley in 1975. After my reading I went out to dinner at a restaurant called Forks in the Air (a name Barry would have loved). I was feeling many things - excitement, accomplishment, relief, gratitude, and so on. I decided to have a libation and perused the choices. And... there it was, right there on the menu - Rogue Dead Guy (a malty ale from the Rogue Brewery in Oregon). I thoroughly enjoyed it - the taste, the serendipity, the dry humor that Barry would also have loved. In this case I think of 'rogue' as a person full of mischief, one who breaks away from norms and does things his/her own way. It was perfect. I knew a poem would eventually come. It started on Tuesday after an osteopathic treatment (and after Coming Undone) and came to fullness after I took this picture and played with the abecedarius form.

Autumn Afternoon

(abecedarius)

Autumn afternoon pedaling on my trusty
bike. Blustery winds blow some rain in, but I don’t
care. I’m in the rhythm of riding as varied thoughts
dance through my mind.
Eventually you enter and, as always, I’m grateful that you
find your way in. It has become a 
gentle sense of joining as I work to
harness the shifting energies of healing, the
intricate undertones and sometimes bewildering
juxtaposition of openness and boundaries. The
kinesthetic nature of pedaling
leads to connections of heart and
mind. As my gears hum I
notice my health and feel grateful, not
only for when we were us in the flesh, but also for sensations of your
presence now. I pause on the bridge near our home, smile with knowing that my
quirky
rogue dead guy continues to show up, sometimes murky and other times clear,
sensations of love shared always present. I’ve had some
trying times lately, have had to strive to
understand. It’s been a bit painful, really, but with
visceral relief distinctly present. I have more
work to do, but it’s actually
exhilarating to be here right now, in me. I continue to honor
your love as I let my
zeal out into the light of day and decide what reflections I want to let in.

Sarah Carlson

October 13, 2018