Nov 1, 2011

Karen Baker
If we lived forever we could go on and on sitting around this table  making meaning out of words and each other.  It is the memories like smoke that we try to capture.  We roll the words around in our hands like precious stones.  This is why we write: this is how we glean the value of our lives.

I remember hotter than hot Minnesota summer days, rolling my eyes and standing on the sides of my feet thinking of ways to get away from the old ones. The ones who said “Sit up straight, put your feet on the floor, don’t talk back. I was not around when these rules were made but now I sit up straight, put my feet on the floor and I try not to talk back.

I keep the precious stones in my pocket and try to remember, to piece back together the people and the stories and the meanings. If we lived forever how then could we value our lives and each other.