Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Evening Prayer
By Nancy Prouty March


 Try to imagine all the things
 That your  father did for you when you
 were an infant, and then a toddler
 and then a young child, 
and which you cannot remember 
because you were so young, 
and which you may never discover,
 and which even they may have
 even forgotten about. 
Perhaps you will never know all of the things
He did for you—
Changed your diapers,
Kissed you each night
Hugged you and said, “I love you.”
Was your baseball coach,
The one who took you to the mountains
To learn to ski, for lessons, time to spend together
Stood in the cold, proud as you flew
Down the slope and said,
“He’s a really good skier.”
He flew you to Tahoe
A father and son adventure.
He learn to ride a horse and 
Take you for lessons.
Rarely missed a scout meeting
Camped in the winter, on ships, 
And made shelters to keep you warm.
Stood up straight & proud when
You received your Eagle Scout award.
Taught you to drive,
Trusted you to have a motorcycle
Took you to Americade 
Another father & son adventure.
He stayed awake pacing evenings
When he was afraid for you
And the choices you were making.
He helped you make a plan to hike 
The Appalachian trail.
He packed boxes, thoughtful of every item
He worried each night about his boy
Alone in the dark.
He traveled South to meet up with him
Gave him a room, shower, a few laughs.
Memories for a father & son adventure.
He would leave him on the trail with a
Strong firm hug and a few bucks!

He sat in the front row of church
Smiling and proud of his son when he said,
“I do!”
He helped him buy his first home,
Fix broken this and that.
When you needed help he was
Always there.

He wept when he saw you
Hold your first born son.
It was truly a family something
That eluded him as a child –
Here was his son, a man, a father.
He held that little grandson of his
And that day love bloomed.

Being a grandfather changed his life.
All his life he searched
for that rapture he feels
each time he holds your son.







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Pre Mastectomy

By Nancy Prouty March


I've been awake since 3:00 am
sitting alone in the dark
contemplating tomorrow's surgery
and the cancer that lies
beneath my breast.
Eyes closed…
imagining
wondering
searching.


A memory caresses me &interrupts my thoughts.
I feel my friend Kate nearby bringing
her usual brand of comfort- a cup of herbal tea,
homemade valentine, or a candlelight dinner.
Not a day goes by without
memories of her...
brilliant paints meandering
onto 10 x10 blank canvases,
pencils and paper 
Objects of nature
Awaiting her attention on her
sun drenched studio table.


My eyes close and my 
Memories focus on our last day together…
We walked out to the backyard
on a late June morning
barefoot and free
and danced in the thick wet
green grass like fairies with wings.
We sat in old weathered
wooden chairs starring at the
brilliance of the day.
Kate looked at a big tree
standing in the yard and said, 
"See how that treelost a limb in the storm?"
"Yes," I reply.
"Most likely it will survive.
Only a scar will remain.
That is Hope."

Today I live in that hope
because of you dear
friend.


Watching the Sun Come Up

Nancy Prouty March
August 2016





Mary Oliver once wrote a poem —Why I WakeEarly.
This morning I sit in peace on a weathered bench
watching the sun rise amidst the morning's purple haze.
Water laps against the seaweed laden rocks
while seagulls flap their wings and coast
along the tide meeting a new day. 
The slow murmur of a lobster boat's engine
disrupts the silence that hovers in the trees
along the rocky coast. 
It is here in this space, in the reverence of the moment
my spirit awakens and begins nourishing me for the day. 
Something about the Great Blue Heron
 and the smell of salty brine awakens the essence of who is me.