October 1, 2025
Navigating Day to Day
Struggling
when her father received a barb
or other disapproving comment
he would smile and say—
occasionally with just the very barest
almost imperceptible hint of snark—
thank you!
she thinks of her father now,
as she considers dispiritedly
the lies, chaos, upheaval,
disinformation, divisiveness,
and lawlessness
of her country’s current government.
she takes a deep deep breath,
drills way down, dials way in, reaches
desperately for whatever inner resources
she can find that might possibly—improbably—
let her
give thanks.
she recalls lines from the bible, lines which
she actually learned not directly from the bible itself
but rather from father timothy kavanagh,
a fictional episcopal priest in a bestselling novel:
rejoice always,
pray continually,
give thanks in all circumstances.
all right, she says to herself, dubious,
struggling to suspend disbelief,
all right,
and, without snark
but also without any conviction
whatsoever,
with no idea at all
what it is that she might rejoice in,
she pushes herself to say aloud,
experimentally,
thank you.
she moves into the busy of her day,
shakes her head off and on,
mutters periodically,
really?
and that is as far
as she gets
that day.
—dotty seiter
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3 x 3″; watercolor on paper
card #17 in a series of color swatches
2025
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Notes about poem and painting:
• “Struggling,” I think, is pretty straightforward. My hubby might well assert that it’s not a poem—it doesn’t rhyme! But it is a poem. It’s written in free verse, a form of poetry that neither rhymes nor has regular meter.
• Living showcases cranesbill hardy geranium blossoms. When I look at this photo, I pretend I am looking in a mirror seeing all my own beauty and hardiness reflected back to me as I live this real day at hand : )
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16 responses to “Navigating Day to Day”
What a beautiful poem, especially today for me, eve of Yom Kipper. I don’t fast these past few years, but this year I am feeling different this year, lots of inner thoughts. Not going to fast, am going to do some inner cleansing!
You should make an album physical, of all these beautiful swatches, and florals.
Gmar Hatima Tova
Gmar Hatima Tova.
Carol, thank you for drawing my attention to Yom Kippur and its meaning. I’m touched by the way my poem fits into that framework.
I like your idea of fasting from inner thoughts!
My first 9 swatches went to Caroline at camp, but I’ve now painted many many more and have a wonderful deck of 3 x 3″ cards that sits on my desk. I go through them often. They are of course one thing as physical cards, with their living reference flora long gone, and another thing photographed with the reference flora (and the shadow play). A physical album is an appealing consideration! I’ve also been wondering about having select photos printed and framed—any feedback you might have about that? Separate frame for each swatch? A frame with 9 swatches featured? I’d love to create some kind of intersection between Dave’s gardens and my art chronicling his gardens of 2025.
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So sweet and so wonderful that we learn from our fathers throughout our lives, including after they themselves are gone.
Thanks for appreciating that single petal placement in the geranium color-swatch card. As I’m sure you can well imagine, the creative process unfolded organically and in this case, a single petal placement was what was called for : )
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Sheila, thanks for the sweet hug of your responses
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