Being Wise Eight

 Photo of peach blossoms outside my kitchen window 

                    by Janet Wyatt March 2021

Being Wise Eight March 28, 2021

When I yield, admit it’s time

to wash the dishes, and I

stare out the kitchen window,

peach blossoms cluster

themselves in my view. Drudgery

disappears. Can that many

peaches crowd those slender

stems? Will some fall that

others may be pollinated and

grow fat and pink? Will bugs

gnaw and chew before my

eyes or will some come safe

to the window harbor? Will

the unruly grape vines climb

over the chicken run and feed

the hens below them? Will I

be able to reach up and harvest

the volunteer peach, the impetuous

grapes? Possibly apples and

pears may still bear. Oh, the

work to reclaim my orchard. 

So many broken limbs, unpicked

fruit, vine tangles. And the figs.

Will they survive? We plan a

garden. So far onions and

replanted peas. Next beets.

Later cukes and beans. Tomatoes

and sweet peppers. Meantime

the bees are busy among the

nascent peaches. Oh, please

live. Please make fruit 

we can all eat.

Being Wise Seven

 Janet took this photo of our pink cosmos last summer.

***

Being Wise Seven March 21, 2021

How does wisdom come into it?

Am I any wiser because I’m older?

I seem to forget more. On a busy

day, I might forget my pill. My

legs get tired and I yearn to sit

down and put my feet up. Enough

work for awhile. I’ll rest now. 

Then the next morning I find

the pill I didn’t take. I do

compensate, write things down

in my appointment book, get

books ready to mail as soon as

I get in the orders. Once I forgot

my class, but the students weren’t

angry. I’ve already chosen books

for my fall classes. I try to walk

every day, but sometimes I

forget that, too.  I do well on the

whole, but what I forget troubles

me. I don’t know, of course,

how much longer I have to be

here, to cook and clean and teach

and learn. And I’m not the only

one in my life who forgets. We

all do. I used to lose things like

car keys and house keys. So I

wear my emergency pair of

keys. I should be able to outwit

myself. I’ll give it a try.

Being Wise Six

        Our rooster, Pauli, supervising his hens. by Janet Wyatt

Being Wise Six March 14, 2021

There are always temptations.

“Add four thousand to your

credit line.” I had trouble with

the web option and was put on

hold with the phone option. Not

worth it. I have enough credit.

I’ve stayed out of debt. “Find

out when your stimulus check

will arrive.” I got lost in that

web search, too. It’s in the works

and will come. No worries. Best

to focus on finishing my taxes

and helping these women who

trust me to edit their writing.

Do more cleaning. Walk longer.

Do the work in front of you.

Your body is healing if slowly.

You have some good years

still to come. A day at a time,

as they say. Your body is quiet.

Your soul is peaceful. People

love you. No worries.

  supervising his hens.

Being Wise Five

Christmas 2016

Being Wise Five March 7, 2021

Aging interferes with memory.

People used to admire mine.

Now I need reminding. I keep

two records, when I only need

one. If a book slips out of sight,

I can’t find it. I search my piles

of folders for class notes, student

work, miscellaneous papers I

don’t want to lose track of. But

where are they? Yet the lines

of new poems rise to the surface

My words are still there and

many memories, even if not

the ones I’m looking for. I do

pretty well on grocery lists and

remembering meal plans. My

life is simple: writing, publishing

what I’ve written; teaching, 

nudging my students to keep

after their goals, pointing out

awkward phrasing, celebrating

the completion of a book. 

Amazing that I still have

students. Once I forgot my 

class, but they were not angry.

They called to remind me. Can

love compensate for memory

loss? Sometimes, Muse Mother.