<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div dir="ltr"><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><span style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Sequel to the Woman with the Suitcase</span><br style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><br style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><br style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><i><span style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> October 2017: after the Tubbs fire:</span><br style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">I had become the woman with the suitcase, not grasping my grandmother’s adventure</span><br style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">to get out but learning to navigate my own where I could not go back in</span></i><br style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><br style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">the same purple suitcase sits</span><br style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">opened on a wooded floor</span><br style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">twenty-four months later</span><br style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><br style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">I found a way back in</span><br style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">carved out a tenuous sense of place</span><br style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">and though flames threaten to annihilate once again</span><br style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">there’s a new sensation inside</span><br style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">not intimidated by Nixle warnings, smoky air</span><br style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">the sounds of air tankers flying overhead</span><br style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><br style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">this time I will not be broken by conflagration</span><br style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">I have traveled the familiar road before </span><br style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">I know how to prance like a bedraggled marionette</span><br style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">through the insurance hoops and debris chaos</span><br style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">I know about wattles and how to be patient</span><br style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">I know how to say no, to say not yet, to friends meaning well</span><br style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">I know how to lie low</span><br style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">comfort a pounding heart</span><br style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">be with a screaming amygdala</span><br style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">I know how to be scared </span><br style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><br style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">this new house may become cinders</span><br style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">but today I’ve got a compost pile and a piano again</span><br style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">a perky begonia start unfurls mightily</span><br style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">next to the N-95 mask</span><br style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">grass roots communities are</span><br style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">mushrooming through the</span><br style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">backdrop of global fragmentation</span><br style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">soothing embers still sparking within</span><br style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><br style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">in the midst of danger I am surprisingly calm </span><br style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">my head is clear</span><br style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">if need be I will start over </span><br style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">and over again</span><br style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">like breath </span><br style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><br style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-size: 16px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>- sharon bard</span><br></div></body></html>