Who knew
that, in moving, I
would have to catalogue my life,
answering questions seldom posed
in daily conversation?
Who sends me mail, newspapers,
magazines? Who do I want
to hold close, to receive their messages?
I sit and make lists,
and each name leads to another:
family, doctors, friends, organizations.
Banks and credit cards and mortgage companies.
Magazines and bills and services and repairmen:
all the people who keep my life going,
who I can call upon in emergencies,
who accompany my living like the score
of a well-known play. The music in the background,
suddenly come to the fore: Harmonia Gardens to my Dolly;
The Sound of Music to my mountains.
Now acknowledged, note by note,
as I change locations and
sing out the particulars
to all my backup
as the curtain rises on my new adventure.
