Indian Blanket Toss

    - Marilyn Sequoia © 2017

Like a soaring Alaskan Indian
I have, at times, been tossed
Up and about,
Away from my grounding,
Away from safe turf.

As gravity returned me,
I found you--
My families of blood and beyond,
Holding the blanket there
To catch my landing
In a woolen web of support.

You have fed me, you have loved me,
Listened and talked,
Advised me…
Even dealt with my wrath.

For years you have been there,
Fingers ‘round the blanket,
Ring Around the Rosie,
Near others you may barely have known.

For fifty-three years the blanket holders
Have gathered, left, remained, returned.
Each year another joined
And another.

Until now, in my seventy-fifth year,
I can still feel your presence
As I spend this diamond year
Cherishing all of you
As the fabric of my life.

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Marilyn Sequoia is a poet residing in Southern California. She has published poems in Habitat for Humanity's Raising the Roof, Katya Williamson's Bringing The Soul Back Home, the anthology Discovering The Spirit of Place, and in her chapbook New Wilderness. She finds Kindnesses emerging whenever she turns to Gratefulness.
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Read this and the 60+ poems in 'The Best of Kindness 2017' available on Amazon.com or from our publisher's CreateSpace e-store: https://www.createspace.com/7018282

Artwork above, 'Taped Key, is Peg Quinn. Peg is poet, mural painter, award-winning quilter, mixed-media artist, and three-time Pushcart Prize nominee. Originally from Nebraska, Peg lives in Santa Barbara, CA. www.santabarbaramurals.com

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Are there small or large gestures of kindness? How do we decide? The poets in this 60-poem collection ask and try to answer. Join poets from 30 states & a dozen countries on this journey.