ANCESTORS
Wise ones, prized ones, passed this last year
from our semi-known, home-grown life
to one I fully know not yet.
Ann - whose welcome filled rooms with clear fresh sunbeams,
her teacup planted beneath the Guelder rose.
Mark - great light bringer who also danced with darkness.
Arthur - compelling ease through laughter,
muse for the poem The Guest.
Will - building the Crannog with mud and wattle,
connecting star to star, outlining pattern.
Your gifts continue my aspirations.
Because of you I am richer.
Teachers, a while gone, their teaching not forgotten.
Thomas Lackenby Maughan - a visionary
with hope for humanity's healing:
enjoy yourself, take the next step.
Edward Christopher Whitmont - dream worker,
unravelling first causes.
Denis O'Connell - continuous questing,
joining psyche and soma.
Your teaching lasts long. Your students
live out their version of what you conveyed.
Rest well.
Because of you I am wiser.
Relatives, far journeyed, blood line
now extends generations beyond.
Daddy - who called me into being,
departed before seeing his work manifest.
Grandpa - jolly. Irish wise, loving beach house summers.
Grandma - soft solidity, cooking to nourish and delight.
Aunt Frances - generosity and more.
Uncle Tom - working through the meaning of life.
Aunt Hildur - doing a Swedish Christmas
with an American touch.
Your blood is in my blood.
Fare thee well, you who gave me
life and potential.
Because of you I am here.
Kaaren Whitney
Samhain 2005
