Emerald Poem by M.J. Lemon

On a day when emerald is ubiquitous
one may dwell on greening
and springtime and renewal and coming of new life
Yes, life
What is life?
Some call it sacred special or a gift
But you can certainly remember that
one person who made
living sound so ordinary that listening to the details
prompted the mind to unravel to travel to wander
to rid the environment of the commonplace
Birth
always first
I remember only the crib and mobile
and the aquarium with the angelfish
and two faces a man and a woman
dad and mom
Then came the fourth birthday
baby teeth out
and the puppy in, the terrier
and my companion always by my side
And because I am of that generation
I still remember the kid
Sonny who caught a virus and then disappeared
We thought it was normal when the teacher told us
he died from the sickness
from disease now readily cured
just by swallowing medication twice
There were days at play and
Sherry and Brian and the Lone Ranger
hoarding toys and going home
and then waking up one morning
And I'm in high school
a rite of passage and
I no longer want to know brother and sister
because I was becoming important
There was track and swimming
and chemistry and physics and algebra
and chemistry again when I fell in love
and kissed and fell in love again
and then all over again I forget the faces
but remember the convertible
and the nights parked at the beach
and the prom and the grad
where life seemed to stop and I thought
I mortgaged my own apartment in Nirvana
But college called and academics and athletics and love
filled every moment (Where did I get all that energy?)
And then everything I knew as love withered when
that Treasure from overseas made an introduction
from that insane instant
we became inseparable and I now knew
love lust and humanity were discrete but best
when bundled tight and held close
And so the family began to arrive
all the greatest of gifts when
in third year I broke my leg too
ironically or provocatively a day after reading
in the student paper
another cheerleader activist broke both legs
falling from a balcony
And a private dream died because
I never played a sport professionally
and walking hurt for over a year
but I saved the casts crutches wheelchair
Graduation with honours came and
then a job another and another
and still another all adding up
what might I call a career at some stage
There was that year I didn't forget to call the brother
and sister and they were fine and so was I
and then I did a double take when I realized I still
had that convertible and could carry my Treasure
to the sand dunes where we reclaimed younger days
A career finally arrived better late than never
but by then I wasn't looking for
any job to give my life purpose
How quickly tempus fugit
My daughter called last month and we talked
for an hour before I invited her for dinner
but she said she couldn't make it
because she just landed her dream job
in Norway and was speaking from Bergen
and was going to tell me before
I bludgeoned her with the meatloaf recipe
My back twinges and hasn't felt quite right
since the leg got broken
but now I'm bothered more by the daily medications
for problems I didn't until recently know existed
and the regular routine doctor visits
but I have my Treasure with me always
and I know I can be a parent again even at my age
to two faces a man and a woman
dad and mom
Even I don't believe it but the convertible
is still here even after so many other cars have
come and gone
And coming going
Like the Mystical Shamrock talk
leads the mind to stray or directly
into those burbling tides where you spend time
with your own angelfish or brother or sister
or own broken leg or Sonny or Brian and Sherry
or Treasure or fantasies of
idyllic summers in Norway
Places where maybe life begins anew
Yes, life
What is life?
Some call it sacred