This summer my mother in law came over from England for a couple of weeks. We were walking in Dumbarton Oaks Gardens, Georgetown, and found this installation of billowing wire mesh and 10,000 Swarovski crystals by Cao called "Cloud Terrace" We were discussing her creative writing project on the subject of ephemera at the time and these were my thoughts on seemingly small events with long lasting consequences.
A conversation never forgotten.........
Our fleeting encounter
in '72
I think of decades later.
A dropped match and a forest fire.......
Absent minded
inattention
causing long range
desolation.
Hasty words destroying self esteem.....
Your rage
and my shame
(I carry the baggage of your unloading)
A mosquito bearing West Nile Virus......
The fragile intrusion,
predictable itch
and shocking
fatal
escalation.
A loveless act and a baby......
The clumsy attempt
of two
to become one
accidentally
equals
three.