June 2023
Bio Note: My writing appears in 38 literary reviews, and a new book of poetry, Lyrical Years (2023) is available from Kelsay Press. My memoir/graphic novel My Life in Fish: One Scientist’s Journey, is available from todaysecologicalsolutions@gmail.com
Retirement Poem #4
Cleaning Out My Office Photographs saved for last, family chronology in eleven frames, gilt, maple, and burled walnut. No pictures of my beloved—a gem not unveiled for colleagues, the firm line between friend and work. But my daughters, yes—a daily dose of joy—the rose and lily, bud and bloom, as budget cuts decapitate scholarship, and grant money seizes the crown. The first photo—me and the baby veterinarian, 1994—I am forty, she, one and a half. Summer—her frilly pink bathing suit, compliments my white tank-top and green running shorts. Solo shots—three and four, summertime again, favorite dresses—Smokey the cat barely grasped behind his forelegs, wears a most tolerant grimace. Number two, the neuroscientist, arrives four years later. She is tranquil as the first is active— and I tumble to the fact that behavior is a roll of genetic dice. Decades pass—pictures, milestones and mundanity, Sisters together, missing teeth Bat Mitzvahs and graduations, Cum Laude and Summa. Where will these photos hang in a new life? How will I hold so much unearned joy?
©2023 Gary Grossman
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