Before DawnThe silence of your absencegrows louder each dayThe process of aging relentlessThe pain of loss and the vagaries of beingLeave me wondering why First LightWithout rhyme or reason,I rise with creaks and groans,and ponder the evil intentof the author of the NY Times puzzle du jour,before sitting down to write,my life and times DaylightTheContinue reading “Morning Quartet”
Author Archives: Dan R.
Regrets
I’ve often said I don’t have any.Everything that came before has led me here—and this place, this moment,isn’t such a bad one. But if I’m honest…Looking back at the careless life I’ve led,at choices made in ignorance, haste, or hunger—if you held them up against the Noble Eightfold Path—Right Speech, Right Intention, and the like—you’dContinue reading “Regrets”
Gratitude – In Three Parts: A Prayer, A Practice, A People
Part One – Angels If I’m not being guided by angels, I don’t know what to tell youEverywhere I go, everywhere I turn,I am finding new souls to connect with,on a level that, for most folks,happens once in a lifetime.This is not a soliloquy,on the oddity of this experience,but a prayer of thanks,an ode toContinue reading “Gratitude – In Three Parts: A Prayer, A Practice, A People”
a simple question
Seven decades in, when asked to peer insideand ruminate about my beingwith the phrase Who am I?I peel away who I have been to others:“Pops” to the grandkids,“Oh Danny,” to my dear bride.Then proudly offer up the legacy of my profession— all aligned to Tikkun Olam—and gleefully describe the joys I’ve taken up in my dotage: capturingContinue reading “a simple question”
A Glimpse of Open Sky
As I perch on blocks upon the floor,the teacher speaks of the art of sitting—and the many masters who have shaped his form.He begins our journey inwardwith a gentle roll of the shoulders—up, back, and down—then slow movements of the head in every direction,aligning the torso before we settle.And then, we follow the breath. ThisContinue reading “A Glimpse of Open Sky”
Finding Solace
I am settling into this life alone,comfortable in the silence,finding solace… in the solitude. I do spend time in memories —of time spent with you,with you and the boys,with you and our families —your mom and dad,the Captain of the ship,and my mother and Santo,Uncle Al and Aunt Stella,gathered around the Seder table. The photographsContinue reading “Finding Solace”
A Swan Alone
A thousand days without you, a thousand nights. Your face and form run through fragments of my dreams, only to wake to find you’re not beside me. By all accounts, I’m doing well. Riding under the canopy of the tree-lined path you knew I loved so well, I looked for the pair— the pair thatContinue reading “A Swan Alone”
Love Eternal
Close your eyes and hear these words As if they were skillful strokes Of a paint filled brush that draws upon the canvas of your inner being. In hopes that the images that arise evoke a catch in the throat and a pull at your heart strings all to convey like a starry night theContinue reading “Love Eternal”
Answers from beyond the Veil
Questions for my Bride I ask on bended knee:Now that I am widowed,What do you make of me?What would you have me do? When you walked beside me,At your pleasure, I would serve.But now you’ve slipped behind the veil—and I am unsure which way to turn, I know I can’t persistWith the life that IContinue reading “Answers from beyond the Veil”
A Place for Doves
Through winter’s mist and gentle rainI walk the cobbled path to visit my beloved—A pilgrimage of sorts these past few years.Three angels perch atop the oval columbarium,Keeping watch over the niches where they rest. That unfamiliar word, gifted to us by the Romans,Columba, meaning “dove,” and arium, “a place for.”A place for doves—I smile atContinue reading “A Place for Doves”