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I'm Wondering
I'm wondering
what happened
to the old man at the window
whispering to the clerk at the
bustling Zimbabwe border beside
the sign warning of cholera and HIV
near the condoms in their torn box,
as he pushes his cane closer
to the window's ledge begging
for entrance into the country
where his delirious wife of one-hundred years
lies in some clinic bed calling
his name, and all he has in his pocket
is one dollar, as the clerk leans closer
and with an impatient mean tone
yells that he needs nineteen more.
I thought about what the Dalai Lama
might have done right then and there,
and I reach into my muddy
safari pocket and hand the old guy
the only twenty I had and wish him
a good day or however many more
he might be blessed with
before his God calls him to the gates
of his own private heaven which
one day he'll call home, hopefully
right alongside his wife.
The Zen of Death
What if we turn back the arms
of the grandfather clock
who years ago rocked us
and each day slowed down
with a reminder to live its moments
instead of rolling around in urgencies
and plans? Thoughts erupt to the surface
like the foam of this morning's
cappuccino, reminded of yesterday's
moment when I kissed aunt Lilly's cooling hand
moments after she left us. I freeze
and glance into my heart's chambers
to grasp the missing chunk
she took with her, as I cling
to her spirit encircling me
as a baby clings to its blanket
while she returns to the earth,
where she began.
Diana M. Raab is a poet and memoirist who teaches writing at the UCLA Writers' Program and
at conferences around the country. Her writings have appeared widely in anthologies, literary
journals and magazines. She has three poetry collections. Dear Anais: My Life in Poems for
You (2008) won the 2009 Next Generation Indie Award and Reader Views Annual Award for Poetry,
as well as received other high honors. My Muse Undresses Me (2007) is her chapbook and her
latest collection is The Guilt Gene (2009).
Her website is Diana Raab
and her blog is Blog.
Email: Diana M. Raab
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