10 THE ESSENTIAL PRESENCE OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT’S SPARKLING EFFERVESCENCE

Steven just sent me
Two videos of Ravi, who, being
A naturally unselfconscious child of
Five, harbors little awareness of
Growing as beautiful as
A magical water sprite as time flies by

And though Ravi and Gramma enjoy play dates
Via cyberspace, several times weekly
The vibrancy of our energy exchange—which
Under normal circumstances is
Naturally palpably conducted from
Within the depths of one of us throughout
The depths of the other—is deeply missed as
I watch the essential vivacity of
My grand daughter’s sprite-like spirit (by way of
A screen) developing her ability to dance, leap and
Skip through this five year old stage of
Her young life as much as
My eyes miss connecting
Ever so naturally with
My son, Steven’s eyes as
We smile lovingly at
His daughter’s age appropriate antics, which
In this day and age are caught on
Camera much more often than not
In fact, there’s so much missed about
Our well balanced, daily lives, which
We’d all enjoyed but
Had taken for granted, that
It seems as if need to quarantine, over
An extensive time—no end in sight—
May offer each of us reason to become
Ever more consciously aware of
The immeasurable depths of
Our love for family and friends as
Weeks turn into—months, and
When I ask myself how deeply is
Our west coast crew missed by
Desert dwellers—Well—missing
Each of our loved ones deeply is
A given being that this much time
Has never gone by without
Their flying here or we there, being that
A heartfelt sense of togetherness is ‘Our Thing’

Thank goodness, we received good—wait—
Make that really GREAT news, recently
Concerning the fact that my PET CT shows
My current protocol of chemo battling
The active nature of the sarcoma that
Invaded my right lung, uninvited, because
If the PET scan had offered up
The opposite result, suggesting
This protocol of chemo doing little to
Deactivate this sarcoma (as is sadly true for
75% of patients whose fervent hopes to
Experience my result prove to be dashed) then
The well balanced state of
My peace of mind, which
Buoys my spirit through
Trying times, would surely need
A safety net installed beneath
The courage I must muster each time
An intuitive flash of reality rides out of
The depths of my mind during each
Insight-driven moment as
This one proves to be ...
I mean, while everyone around
The world is quarantining, it’s easy to
Forget why I have need of chemo, at all!
The fact of the matter is this:
As long as the C-19 virus doesn’t catch up with me
I, conveniently forgetting excessive fatigue, mistakenly
Think of myself as being as healthy as can be

Sooo—here’s the thing—now that the novelty of quarantining has worn thin, our attitudes may begin to look ahead with a sense of heaviness weighing our spirits down—unless—you and I remain amongst those who know themselves as so fortunate as to acknowledge that all of our loved ones are at home, taking every precautionary measure to stay healthy, and in that positively focused, proactive fashion do our think tanks choose to jump start our heartfelt connection to gratitude rather than passively watching our de-energized batteries idling, yet again.🙋🏻‍♀️❤️🌈🌻Annie