Poetic Downsizing
Comments (2) It’s been a whirlwind of activity with four pending sales in one week, which is fantastic but also exhausting. A trip to my beach house was exactly what I needed. Some downtime. A day or two to rest. Thinking that my weekend would be a rainy one, I had plans to do some creative projects around the house. I was going to do this to my bathroom…don’t you love the vintage maps as wallpaper?
image via here
But…I never got around to this project because, lo and behold – THE SUN CAME OUT! When the sun is out in Manzanita you have to get out and enjoy it and we did just that!
With a busy job and bustling social life, the only pleasure reading I really get to do consists of short stories and poetry. Bite-size nuggets of literary goodness.
So…how perfect is it that the Hoffman Center was having a Poetry Fest!? Without hesistation, I headed down to attend.
Four poets were spotlighted : Oregon’s own Poet Laureate -Paulann Petersen, Margaret Chula, Carlos Reyes and Penelope Scambly Schott.
image via here
All the poets were inspiring and listening to them read their work truly made it come to life, offering a personal insight to their prose. Carlos Reyes’ work struck me and I purchased his book – “The Book of Shadows“. He signed it for me too!
One poem, in particular got me thinking and brought me back to the focus of my career -Downsizing.
This poem truly speaks to the job of clearing out our belongings – our past, our memories – and the inevitable nostalgia and emotion that accompanies the task. Enjoy…
ESTATE
by Carlos Reyes
Each piece of paper
each leaf each
breath left
or scent inhaled
from a piece of clothing
in a green and yellow box
from Brazil that says
“Entrga Urgente”
“Cuidado Fragil” …
I spend the weekend
at estate sales trying
to determine if this
is how we measure
our lives, by what’s left behind
to sell to strangers – the box
marked “free.” Untouched
as though unclean…
In the end does it matter
if the prints of our passing
ends up as rummage?
We sniff the air inside
the garages and houses
of strangers, judge
their lack of taste,
their sentiments.
But when the chattels are our own?
How reluctantly we part
with these traces
This plastic bag,
the scent the piece of clothing
in it carries, we are sure we know it
before we seal it up again
in the carton labeled
“… Urgent” “… Fragile”
That scent a breath
still alive
as we take it briefly
into our lungs.
Pretty amazing right? Can you relate to these words? We’ve all experienced the process of letting go when there is a shift in our lives. Isn’t it funny how easily we can go through the belongings of others at estate sales but when it is our own possessions it’s a whole different story.
p.s. Check out this fantastic Q & A session with Carlos Reyes via the Oregonian.
Themocracy