a letter about Catherine


Catherine sometimes
seems to be more spirit than she is flesh
or perhaps
she has more felicity than
the instrument that is her body
will contain
for it may appear
she is akin to sunshine
refusing to be restrained
streaming out and through
all afforded spaces
brilliantly expanding
reflecting over
everything within her grasp.

resonating from just under
her brave skin is
joy, exuberance, dance and laughter
together and all at once.

she swallows the earth
in a fierce embrace, and
steps boldly out into its
darkness
and its brightness
arms open
mouth spilling laughter
to mingle and weave
with the world’s voice.

she is liquid speed and
profound stillness
side by side
kaleidoscopically dancing
to music she composes
with handfuls of willow leaves and
brightly woven yarn
tossed into the air.

I hear her between the
soft rasping of a page turned
and the persistent rasp of
pencils across paper.

she is my teacher
my guide
my joy
my daughter.