The Golden Age -- a historical period known for its peace, harmony, stability and prosperity. Or those in their mid-late sixties. During the Easter holiday, I found myself spending significant time with the Golden Girls -- Mom & Auntie. Included were a rental movie, lunch at The Cove and a road trip to Dock & Dine in Old Sayrbook along the Connecticut coast. For the most part, I appreciated their contribution to what I like to refer to as the 'Wisdom Pool.' But every so often, I had a couple of un-nerving moments when I reminded myself, These are my Golden Girls in their Golden Age who have raised me. So I need to let their not-so-golden moments just pass.In all of their Life Wisdom, my Golden Girls have taught me so much about womanhood, motherhood, wifedom, interdependence and most of all, family. Having received all of their breath, love & light through my entire life and ongoing, that old Maori greeting, hongi, rings true. When you see a loved one, you touch your forehead & nose to theirs . . . I breathe the breath of life into you. My one-year-old nephew, J., seems to have learned this real fast as this is how he often says hello to me.
Immense gratitude to my Mom & Auntie for their Golden Wisdom and their never-ending sacred sharing of themselves. Hongi.
'hongi'
i breathe life into your day
as you breathe life into mine
we exchange
breaths of life for each other
hongi
the widow
her tired, pale face
stares off into the distance
like a lost doe in the forest
her eyes, dark with anguish
wail in unbearable sadness
she continues on
wandering through emerald grasses
along a rippling brook
whose water's edge escorts her
into flourishing freshness
without her dearest buck
