Betwixt curse and gift

I say goodbye
but I don’t really feel
you’re fully gone
down that path
I can’t follow, yet

I said hello
to you for all those years
when your black doom
beckoned you
away down the road

I had hoped I
would be able to learn
what I could of
you, your art
while ever I could

So much not learned
so many things not said
Feeling that I
wasn't "it"
wasn't adequate

I’m grateful yet
I’m still learning from you
hearing echos
of times spent
together, apart

Grieving began
with the curse being found
But gifts live on
in mem’ry,
my heart and my voice

Tour des Chutes

It is another crystalline blue sky day here in Central Oregon as I sit and listen to one of my favorite acts, Wild Rye, at the post-ride party for the Tour des Chutes. The Tour is a great event in the Livestrong tradition that brings together cycling and support for cancer care and survivorship.

Wild Rye does a wonderful cover of the Hanneke Cassel arrangement of Bono's "Mother of the Disappeared."* While the context for Bono's inspiration for the song did not relate to cancer, I was struck by the juxtaposition of the music and the sight of cyclists passing by with tags pinned to their shirt in memory of loved ones. The sight of these pinned to children's shirts tears at your heart. Those who succumb to cancer may disappear physically, but they live on in our memories.

* Recorded on Some Melodious Sonnet