CAROL ALENA ARONOFF

★ ★ ★ ★

POETRY

Softly

sift the soil as if it held the delicate shell
of your mother

an archaeology of dreams unfulfilled or pending:
astronaut adventurer marathon dancer

dig up her wishes layered as onion, replant
where memories of loss, disappointment

threaten to overrun days in cloud shadow
there is no way to know the flowers that bloomed

for a morning; their scent may have lingered
too faint for recognition

with life ephemeral as blaze of autumn leafing
fragile as moth wing in summer light

take no notice of strident voices or mud wasps
you know what this jewel is worth

what facets still face away from sun
it takes only a heart to turn them

A Small Kindness

The red flower in a vase
on the cafe table where
I drank my nonfat latte
and ate pain au chocolat
was a small kindness
that opened my morning.

A bouquet of surprises followed:
the crew member on our flight
who sang blues before takeoff,
the attendant who asked us
as we left to be kind to each
other, the shuttle driver
offering candy to a cranky child.

Each gesture was a seed
carried by sparrows to a far
nest, each thoughtful moment
stretched time and breached
borders. Moved people closer
to where joy and relief intersect
at the heart.