A Celebration!
By Barry Vitcov
Today’s poem is about all the different behaviors and costumes we don during our lives. Anne Brunelli reminds us of the multiple paths we take from birth to death, the ironies along the way, the comfort we achieve, the stories we tell ourselves and others, and the celebration of it all. Her poem flows with short declarations and the rhythm of rhyme as she guides us along that journey.
Be Free!
By Anne Brunelli
I watched
Such a wonderful
Video last night.
The premise
Of which
Was perfectly right.
It spoke of
Our aging bodies
You see,
And
Societal
Invisibility,
That starts
When we
Are no longer young
And our
Popularity
Has swung.
As we start,
to gradually
Fade from view.
For quite a while
We all know, it’s true.
We disappear,
Slowly,
In crowns
Of gray.
Escaping notice
A bit more
Each day.
And yet
A perfect irony
Is
Old age
Wants to
Set us Free,
From worries
About how
We should look
To liberated,
Open book.
From being clever,
So in vogue,
To license
To let go,
Go rogue!
To laugh
Too loud,
And eat the cake
And love
All kinds of
Friends we make,
Who also
May not fit
The mold.
Freedom.
Is a gift
Of gold
A perfect
Opportunity,
To walk the earth
And really be
At home
And feeling
truly right.
Here
And aging
In plain sight!
Please,
Kick up
Your heels, today.
In love
With you
And all the way
From baby teeth
To final breath,
For maybe
There is just no death
Just shifting
Stories
And energy
And wondrous tales
Of you and me
That we can write
With love
And grace,
Delighting
in each
Changing face
We wore
To journey
Across the land,
From “Oh dear god!”
to Ain’t life grand!
Annie Brunelli is a retired administrator from the University of California Medical Center in San Francisco. She relocated, with her sister, to Ashland in September of 2020, one day after the fire that started at the north end of town. The fire did not dampen their enthusiasm, but it did very nearly incinerate all their worldly goods that were on a moving van on the freeway at the time. A wild welcome, indeed! Annie has been a student of spiritual inquiry and meditative practice for many years, and these things coupled with an irrepressible sense of humor, have informed the poetry she has written since she was 7 years old. Perhaps there will be a book of poetry in her future, after all, as friends have long suggested. Stay tuned!
Poetry Submissions Welcomed!
You are invited to submit original work to the Poetry Corner. There is only one restriction: Poems ought to show a connection to Ashland and/or Southern Oregon. Your interpretation of that connection is fairly loose and mine is probably even looser! Be sure to include the title of your poem, your name as you would like it to appear, the city or town in which you reside, and, if you wish, your preferred pronouns. Finally, please submit a bio statement of less than 150 words written in the third-person.
To submit poems, send to Barry Vitcov at [email protected].
