<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></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=""><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">Flying over the Cape Fear River<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> <b class=""> </b></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">Maybe it’s enough to know</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">That it was beautiful here, </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">where the water reached into </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">the inland ways of the river. </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 14px;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">The trees were green. Birds lived in them </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">for the foliage that hid their great nests.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">It did our hearts good to look for them, </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">though usually they remained hidden.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">It did our hearts good to see green</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">where we expect it to be.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 14px;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">Not so now, as salt has leached its way from the distant </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">ocean to the mouth and heart, flooding our eyes in salty tears.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">That is where salt belongs, after all- </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">running down checks, in flows triggered </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">by the least sign of tenderness and longing </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">for the way things were.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 14px;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">I keep thinking of you, moving quickly, decisively </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">to get on with a life made of healthy appetites. </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">Now my memory is stronger than your step</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">and comes to me quicker than you can. </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">What pain to think my memory is heartier </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">than you are at this point of your dying.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 14px;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">Go find a tree for healthy nesting. </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">Explore lush green branches where the </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">salt of our tears has no hope of reaching. </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">The loss of hope is hard, but we’ll </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">find you there anyway.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 14px;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">Your nest has been built. </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">Go see what is hatching there, </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">hidden in the foliage of your vibrant green life.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>- Sally Hanes Hubbell</div></div></body></html>