<html class="apple-mail-supports-explicit-dark-mode"><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div dir="ltr"><span style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79); font-size: 30px; font-family: Helvetica; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Forgetting Names</span><div class="gmail_default" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><font face="Helvetica" style="font-size: 30px;"><br style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);"><span style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);">I can’t call up the familiar name</span><br style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);"><span style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);">of our vet, who walked out back</span><br style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);"><span style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);">with us through heavy snow</span><br style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);"><span style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);">to check our feverish cow</span><br style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);"><span style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);">in this day’s quickening darkness.</span><br style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);"><span style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);">My skittering memory</span><br style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);"><span style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);">only shows me</span><br style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);"><span style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);">his thick hair and kind gaze,</span><br style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);"><span style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);">his hand gently resting</span><br style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);"><span style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);">on our old dog’s head,</span><br style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);"><span style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);">a blessing easily bestowed.</span><br style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);"><span style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);"> </span><br style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);"><span style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);">No name comes to my lips</span><br style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);"><span style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);">although somewhere</span><br style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);"><span style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);">a space in my mind</span><br style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);"><span style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);">prompts the letter D.</span><br style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);"><span style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);">Eyes closed,</span><br style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);"><span style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);">I drift into that space</span><br style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);"><span style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);">untangled</span><br style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);"><span style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);">like a fish free of a net</span><br style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);"><span style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);">swims gratefully into open waters.</span><br style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);"><span style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);"> </span><br style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);"><span style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);">There I remain, no thought at all</span><br style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);"><span style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);">for long moments, when somewhere</span><br style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);"><span style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);">behind my eyelids I see</span><br style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);"><span style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);">a complicated garment</span><br style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);"><span style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);">sagging at the shoulders</span><br style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);"><span style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);">where it’s held</span><br style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);"><span style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);">as if by invisible hands.</span><br style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);"><span style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);">I know this</span><br style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);"><span style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);">is the lifetime my soul wears.</span><br style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);"><span style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);"> </span><br style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);"><span style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);">Vastness like a perfect secret</span><br style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);"><span style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);">stays with me</span><br style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);"><span style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);">as I open my eyes,</span><br style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);"><span style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);">remembering of course</span><br style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);"><span style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);">we’re outfitted in ordinary guises,</span><br style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);"><span style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);">going by names</span><br style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);"><span style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);">as if simply human.</span><br style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);"><span style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);">And I recall the name he wears.</span><br style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);"><span style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79);">It’s Dave.</span></font></div><div class="gmail_default" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79); font-size: 30px;"><font face="Helvetica"><br></font></span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="color: rgb(73, 69, 79); font-size: 30px;"><font face="Helvetica"> - Laura Grace Weldon</font></span></div><div dir="ltr"><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div>"Be joyful though you have considered all the facts."<div> - Wendell Berry</div></div></div></body></html>