Poem for Kathi
(listen to the poem, read by Diane R. Wiener)
You left before I could be
with you again.
A terminal illness took
you away and I miss you.
We met at some event –
I can’t even remember –
But every future time
We were glad to be together.
I saw you at an arts festival
We had lunch at Tyson’s Mall
Tapas on 7th Street
Two disabled women pouring out our lives.
I read your many writings –
the world explained with a lover’s eye
poems infused with tenderness
telling the story of your life
Years flew by. I did not reach for you.
Then, we talked after Judy Heumann died
I Facebooked congratulations when you
won an award. You hoped
we would get together soon
I like to think we were connected
– even from a distance.
Now – I yearn to remember
your gentle grace and beauty
a lovely spark of mischief
lighting up your eyes.
Read more poetry by Laureen Summers in this issue of Wordgathering.
Back to Top of Page | Back to Honoring and Celebrating Kathi Wolfe | Back to Volume 18, Issue 2 – Winter 2024-2025
About Laureen Summers
As a 77-year-old female with cerebral palsy, Laureen Summers has been writing poetry since her college days in the 1960s. Her chapbook, Contender of Chaos, was published in 2020 by Finishing Line Press. Laureen enjoys writing about coping with a visible disability combined with challenges, her love of nature, and relationships of all kinds. Active in disability advocacy for many years, Laureen is Project Director of the Entry Point! Program at the American Association for the Advancement of Science, facilitating connections between undergraduate and graduate students with disabilities and company partners for consideration of placement in STEM summer internships. Laureen has a wonderful husband of 48 years, a terrific daughter, and two precocious grandchildren.