WASH AWAY, a poem by Harold Garde

I can give you some water
quench your thirst
thin your bourbon
clean your dishes,
wash your hands.
Maybe not much of a gift
but there it is.

A better gift I can give
Is an eraser, a good one
to remove stuff
Remove the need for just accepting,
that clinging desire to belief over reason.
the easy giving of permit.

The accepting of fables and excuses,

Hey, we can be artists
Find order in the stimulation of chaos
Grow stronger in pursuit of truth,
learn to relish the loneliness of search.

The best gift to give you,
I would give you this, discomfort.
Respect glory for your skeptic self.
The best I could give you is a tool for disavowal,
The accepted nice can kill.
Nurture your long quest for authenticity.

Enjoy the sun because it is there
and enjoy the night. It will again
yield to the warm and light of new day.
Seek triumph
Doubt is your best companion.

Harold Garde splits his time between Belfast, Maine, and New Smyrna Beach, Fla. He is a painter with work in permanent museum and significant private collections. He is the subject of several art films that have been broadcast on Public Television in Florida, Maine and Wyoming, including one in the ongoing Maine Masters series. His play, ‘The Rec Room,’ was selected and performed in the Maine Fifteen Minute Play competition and later at the Atlantic Center for the Arts in Florida.

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.