Snowed In

November  28th, 2006

by Maitea

The roads are icy, the driving, always a bit dicey

The snowfalls in waves, conjuring memories of my home near the ocean side.

The lake now carries, near the shoreline, sheets of ice.

Frozen plants line the shoreline inches deep; they hold the plant in time.

Snow blankets the earth, some how quieting the world outside

The smell of smoke permeates the air from the nearby houses.

I imagine what it is like, you know,

Inside one of these houses.

Are they huddled by the fire, eating supper?

Or are the children in bed- lulled to sleep by the distant hum of the television?

Meanwhile, the lake has disappeared in the nighttime darkness

Blackness invades the windows; the lake, now, a mere dream.

Tomorrow, the lake will again feed the clouds

Rising just like fire, miles of distinctly patterned steam rising.

Each day brings a new challenge, but I

I am stranded, books my friends, the occasion cell phone call from old mates

I reach out for a safe place, a place to call my own

And as the snow melts, the world opens again, and I can see beyond.

Not now, but someday

I will go beyond.

by Maitea Archuleta

Sometime in September

Apr. 14th, 2008

by Maitea

“Sometime In September”

feeling small today,

unable to act, only to feel

grandmother, my Nana

slipping slowly away to.. where..?

(I wish I could have faith)

Unknowing matriarch, memories

Lost, crashing with irretrievable data

What with your passing, will we unknowingly

Lose precious family voices

Only you could render.

Which part of my life has mirrored yours?

Are the innuendos correct?

Are you my true mother of character?

If so, I have been, again

Prejudged

Boxed and neatly labeled,

Filed away in the family safe.

Do you feel as I do now?

I will honor you, grandmother,

Clearing my ears of the tales

spun around your name.

feeling small today,

unable to act, only to feel

grandmother, my Nana

slipping slowly away to.. where..?

(I wish I could have faith)

Go Easy, my dear one…