by Wrenna Rose

by Megan E. Freeman

framing You

the 3×5 inch screen in my hand
frames equatorial dragons and fire
Southeast Asian bodies dancing
in the new Chinese year

the screen in my hand
framed by the 3×5 foot window
framing fat flakes of January
frozen swirls and icicled eaves

Singapore night pulses in my hand
Colorado blizzard pulses outside
our lives nest one within the other like boxes
framing Asia framing home framing you

***

Planetary Differentiation

You sleep through my day and
I write through your night.

I place my fingers on the globe,
one for you and one for me.

If the globe were a ripe peach
and I pressed as hard as I love you,
my fingers would dissect the fruit
and meet in the center of the stone.

The shortest distance between
our hemispheres is nothing more
than a little crust, a bit of mantle,
some nickel, iron.

Nothing at all, compared to a mother’s
devotion. Nothing at all, compared
to a mother’s strength.

***

The Difference Between Cheesecake and Dementia

“The Boulder County Sheriff’s Office is asking the public’s help
in locating a missing 84-year-old female with dementia.”
– Boulder County Sheriff’s Media Advisory

A smartly dressed woman, in her eighties, I’d wager, sits alone
in the Theater Café with an impressive novel and a slice of
plain New York cheesecake, sipping an expensive cup of coffee.
Her life has delivered her into this moment of delicious independence,
while the snow falls outside and the theatergoers queue up
at the box office across the street.

What is the difference between eating cheesecake in the Theater Café
with a cup of coffee and a good book, and standing confused and
disoriented on a busy highway, watching a sheriff’s deputy approach,
call our name, and offer to take us home again?

 

About the photographer: Wrenna Rose is a mindful naturalist, artist and writer. Her current work explores the relationship between mindful living and the natural world as sources of healing, hope, and connection. You can find her seasonal offerings at wrennarose.com. This photo is titled, “Reflection.”