RESPONDING TO YOUR NOTE
ON RECOVERING FROM EL SALVADOR

May I never recover,
Karen, from loving,
and being loved, by you.

You have ruined me for life.

Jim Bodeen
13 November 2009



HOUSE BUILDER,

--for Karen on our 41st Anniversary

Sister of Sifting Sand, shifting
in the year that cannot be put into words,
accompaniment with you
be my blessing this day. May I

know something of the door
opening for me as you walk down
the stairs this Monday morning
of thanksgiving. Sand into water

and cement be your name in concrete.
Ceremony in El Salvador.
Each breath a counted gift lost
in countless acts of repetition.

Love,

Jim
23 November 2009