A GIFT OF WORDS

Each day I search for a gift of words to share—for Elena, a family friend inherited from my mother. Elena, aging toward one hundred, loves books of all kinds, but especially poetry.

Each morning, for she and I are both morning people, I call to share a poem with her. At least, I try. Sometimes all I have is an interesting quote from a book. Elena is eager for these short, but elegant words, though she always hopes to hear a poem I have written or one of my mother’s.

After I read to her, we share what the words have conjured for each of us. These conversations often wander into her past as a survivor in the Europe of WW2, or her years as a teacher of needle art, or the time she was an older student at UC Berkley in northern California.

These meanderings have often found their way into my poetry, which is her gift of words to me, shared in return.

#worldreadaloudday