Moving

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.