For Murphy, the Grandentity’s cat,

a closed door is just a challenge.

She’ll do her best to enter, but if she can’t,

she’ll fill the air with heart-wrenching cries.

The Grandentity falls for it every time,

opens the door, scoops her up,

and gently explains the human need for privacy. 

Murphy never gets it. 

It’s no wonder I’m worried.

In the fall the Grandentity will leave for college,

and when the door closes on that familiar chapter

of their lives, I know Murphy won’t appreciate

the new chapter that is opening. After all,

it will also be a prolonged closing for her.

                                                                                                                      JDG

We humans

didn’t come with an instruction book

(though some have attempted to write one).

No manual tells us how to put ourselves together

or how to take ourselves apart

(though that’s been tried too).

Malfunctions arise. Breakdowns happen.

Sometimes there’s a refusal to start.

 Maybe we didn’t need a manual after all.

 The secret might lie in hands-on learning

and a willingness to notice, pause, and adjust.

                                                                                                          JDG

My granddaughter and I sit

watching the sun slowly slide toward the horizon.

It has been a busy day and now

I wrap myself in the warm peace of its closing.

Two crows settle briefly on the lawn

before one suddenly flies off, cawing as it goes.

“Hmm,” I translate. “That’s crow for

‘Don’t caw me. I’ll caw you’.”

“ERGG” she says as she gets up and walks away.

“That’s teen for ‘Eye roll. Gotta go.”

                                                                                                     JDG

Solid and tight are often over-rated.

May we stand easy

on open ground.

                                                                   JDG

On  and    on        and      on

he went.

“Don’t get short with me.”

to which I courteously replied,

“And please,

don’t get long with me.”

                                                                                   JDG

Dear Joan,

Some things are too personal

to put in a letter 

that others may read,

but what I want you to know

is that I understand.

I know you’re doing the very best you can.

I love you.

– Older Joan

Seeing that millipede crawl 

across my office floor,

I wonder if he’s searching for

 some decomposing matter.

There’s nothing decomposing here 

except unproductive patterns,

and outdated points of view.

Sadly, on many days

there’s not even much of that. 

I gently pick him up

and go outside. I place him

 near those well-mulched bushes,

feeling an unexpected kinship

with this decomposition seeker.

                                                                                          JDG