Stumblebumming

LetterPoem to Linda Gracen

my last morning in Mendocino 

I see red rose petals scattered through 

a Cyprus grove on the headlands

velvety bright surprise, like finding you again

at Ten Mile, perched above white water

a vista as spectacular as your smile 

and the amazing capacity of your heart 

that cradles the walking wounded 

their stumblebum migration to mental health

not unlike my own return each year 

to my abandoned heart, all those 

still beating along the coast that speak to me 

of braver choices than my own

even the glazed-eyed highway walker 

pad-padding to and fro in her flip-flops

relentless in her unfathomable quest

and dusty Spencer in decade-old dreadlocks 

forever hitching rides between Mendocino 

and Fort Bragg, and I wonder what if I’d stayed

what if I returned, what if I rediscovered

the rhythm of a heart not lost but merely 

misplaced like our friendship along the 

many miles I’ve traveled away and back again 

always yearning for what gets left behind 

on this meandering trail going no place much

after all

#writer #writerslife #writing #author