Slow forward

Rooted we stand in the before
wishing for the after until at last the chime we hear
pulls us across the line.

As the ball drops in dreamy motion, we tie up our hours, days and weeks
into little bags that roll across with us like balls of tumbleweed
"Go back" we think " I don't want you in the New Year".

Yet we rescue the bag with the new kitten in it,
another with a gathering of friends on a beach,
we reach for the one that holds the uncle that passed too suddenly,
and grab hold of the one filled with tears and sorrow from slights real and imagined
now long forgotten.

Bargains are made and plans hatched. Lusting after a clean slate
fills us with the "If I's" or "Then we can's" of activity in pursuit of what I wonder?
Are we to whittle our world through bitter experience, happy coincidence
or just dumb luck.

The body moves on to feel, or not, our next hours, days and weeks
we run to the string section "Play. Louder," we ignore the percussion, the woodwinds sound depleted so we chivvy them up, the first violin is out of tune now...
and all the time a tethered soul rises above, watchful as ever, ignoring our pleas to go back.

Anna Chern has lived and worked on three continents and speaks in many tongues. Born in New Delhi, transplanted to London, Paris and Canada in turns, she has grown to love the vagaries of the seasons in Maine and the slivers of sunshine. Her favorite place in Maine is any and every lake. She also loves South Carolina...and writing.

Transformations
We tell stories.
We tell stories to make sense of our lives.
We tell stories to communicate our experience of being alive.
We tell stories in our own distinct voice. Our own unique rhythm and tonality.

Transformations is a weekly story-telling column. The stories are written by community members who are my students. Our stories are about family, love, loss and good times. We hope to make you laugh and cry. Maybe we will convince you to tell your stories.
— Kathrin Seitz, editor, and Cheryl Durbas, co-editor

"Everyone, when they get quiet, when they become desperately honest with themselves, is capable of uttering profound truths. We all derive from the same source. There is no mystery about the origin of things. We are all part of creation, all kings, all poets, all musicians; we have only to open up, only to discover what is already there." — Henry Miller

Kathrin Seitz teaches Method Writing in Rockport, New York City and Florida. She can be reached at kathrin@kathrinseitz.com. Cheryl Durbas is a freelance personal assistant in the Midcoast area. She can be reached at cheryldurbas@tidewater.net.