One of our latest writing group members, a wonderful poet and a lovely person, Kathleen Flowers, died of cancer on Easter Sunday. She was 44. I did not know she had passed away and read about it today in the Santa Cruz Sentinel. I am sorry I did not know her as well as I wanted to; she was in our group for an all-too-brief time, and on this earth too regrettably brief as well. I am glad for the handful of nice talks and emails we had; she was a deeply loving and loved person. I took her photo tonight and placed in on the altar my African dance teacher always creates each class; she put the photo in a pair of carved angel wings for the class.
Here is one of Kathleen's poems:
The Joke
The skull throws her head
back and out comes a scream,
not a reckless scream, but more
like she’s laughing, laughing at herself,
at this small life that ends
when we wake ourselves.
Out of the black chasm, out of her mouth
fly roses, crosses and gold
coins. She cannot stop
laughing.
1 comment:
I, too, was greatly saddened to read about Kathleen’s passing in today’s Sentinel. I knew her from a poetry class we took together at Cabrillo College, and also from readings we participated in for the Porter Gulch Review. I hadn't seen her in many years, but her poetry and spirit left a lasting imprint on my life. I’ve published a tribute to her on my Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/note.php?saved&&suggest¬e_id=72995852451#/notes.php?id=760180176
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