Ancestors Eat First / Dia de los Muertos

Ancestors Eat First: A Meal with Dad

Following in the tradition of Latin America celebration of Dia de los Muertos, Kirsten Schowalter and Jim Bodeen honor Dr. David Schowalter and his family, with a reading and presentation of Kirsten Schowalter's memoir In My Own Skin at the cemetery in Rochester, Minnesota, where Dr. Schowalter practiced at the Mayo Clinic.

AFTER-ALL, THE GREAT SUSTENANCE,

A FEAST FOR OUR FATHERS

            for Kirsten Schowalter

           

Crops are in as we gather

with ancestors, who may

confuse our offerings

with exploding cannons

no one has names for.

Trusting we'll be recognized

for our tiny poppers,

we go on with the meal.

Sitting before the stone

carved from Mnemonosyne,

Greek Goddess AKA Mom,

her story in time's narrative,

eating after the ancestors,

left-over sushi, pea soup,

and crumbs from that muffin!

Enough--What appetites!--

words surfacing

through your skin

coming through the body,

then me taking a turn--

interrupted then--sudden

appearances of your story--

Rocks at Lake Itasca

Bobber. What your Dad says

next, clearest word of the day:

Carbon, nitrogen, oxygen.

Something people can use.

Whoa! What life is.

Jim Bodeen

30 October 2018