Over The Falls. In Memoriam

Over The Falls

              For Hallie Pope Jackson Vavrus. 1925-2021
 
Once upon a time,
A woman, her daughters and son
The telling of stories, reading aloud
And grace soaring from her lips                                 
 
Once upon a time, in Minneapolis,
A man named George Floyd
The burning buildings, disease
The final verdict
 
And yet, the woman said, “Thank you”
“We should always graciously accept
What we are offered,” she said
The children leaned in
 
Grandkids held hands soft and thin
As nothing they had ever known
No one left her bedside
Unchanged
 
Water from a sponge
Until even that seized
Still, on her lips, thank you
When water wet them
 
Not far from her bed, Minnehaha
She is called. Water waterfall in Anishinaabe
As a man named Longfellow didn’t get it right
But water is forgiving
 
Around thinning, skeletal limestone,
Nothing is concrete; nothing set in stone
Her waters pour abundantly down,
Beyond and gracious
 
Until she seizes up
Her pouring turns to shards
And people gather in awe
At a blue mass of memory
 
A woman named Hallie Vavrus
Has gone too, over the falls
Wetted, loved and grateful
Into the freeze, beyond