Fran Gardner

THE LADY WITH THE GREEN CANE

Just be, you say
Be where?
Be here
Be now
Be nothing.
There—have you inhaled
The fragrance of being?
Be watching

The lady with the green cane
     Walk walk
     Stumble stumble

That’s walking for you
     Walk walk
     Stumble stumble

That's writing for you
     Walk walk
     Stumble stumble

That's life
A slow walk
A slower walk
A stop walk
     Walk walk
     Stumble stumble

Stop.

How many gardens
How many leaves
How much living
Before life becomes being
Just being
Just seeing?

The lady with the green cane.
No big words –
Just a stumble
Somewhere
As she walks.

Fran Gardner lives in Portland, Oregon, and has a diagnosis of primary progressive MS. Her byline has appeared on hundreds of news stories and commentaries in a 35-year career as a newspaper reporter and editor. Having retired early in a 2008 buyout, she is now free to work more on poetry and fiction.