<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=us-ascii"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div dir="auto" style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><p class="MsoNormal"><span class=""><span class="">Thanksgiving, Northern California, 2018<u class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></u></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i class=""><span class="">In memory of Paradise<o:p class=""></o:p></span></i></p><div class=""><span class=""> </span><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="">Each night I sleep a step closer to death<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="">And the fires burn <o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="">And we learn to embrace<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="">The hard and sharp New Normal<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="">I inhale loss <o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="">Stories<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="">Homes, forests, worldly goods<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="">Sinew, muscle, and flesh<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="">Where, in my core we merge<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="">And I wake now each morning in awe at<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="">the elegant fragility and resilience of All My Relations<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class=""> The beetle burrowing into the Earth<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class=""> The pensioner carried to a seat in the Last Car Out<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class=""> The Stone People, once again transformed by fire<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class=""> My own persistent beating heart<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="">To all I offer this day a quiet prayer of grieving Gratitude<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="">For that effervescent persistence <o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="">For presence <o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="">For that Grace-full response to the <o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="">Inevitable ruin of the world.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="">Nothing lasts, I say <o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="">Nothing<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="">While all continues <o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="">Forever<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><div class=""><span class=""> </span><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="">Each night,<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="">While I sleep<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class=""><br class=""></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span></span>- Harold Sloane</p><div class=""><span class="" style="font-family: Calibri;"><br class=""></span></div></div></body></html>