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Door County Writes: ‘One of Those Days’

Poetry by Don Fraker

How long before we forget 
This day’s moments
Un-momentous moments
Like most

But ones
For their lack of lasting memorability 
No less precious
Components of life
Life being lived on a quiet day
A day
Like most

Watching a chipmunk assiduously vacuuming up
All the seeds we scattered on the deck
For its nourishment and our entertainment

Getting caught in a sudden squall
During our swim
And witnessing the pool water caper excitedly
At the unexpected visit from its heavenly brethren 

Sitting cross-legged on the floor
Using the hair dryer’s
Most strident setting
To dry the fancy sandals 
That got soaked in the downpour

Dining out
Outdoors
On a temperate summer afternoon
Under sunshine gentled down
By the laggard remnants of the departing shower clouds

Running into a long unseen friend
Whose septuagenarian heart
Is still expanding to take on 
A new venture 
Enlivening for herself and her community

Finding fossils on the beach
Silurian corals
Stone reincarnated records
Of bustling eons
In endless oceans

A little reading
A bit of writing (this)
Some laundry 
Some washing up
The latest iterations of the usual
But never old
Kisses
And hand-holding
All the gentle pleasures
And simple duties
Not fit for headlines or memorials

No life-wrenching news received 
No turning points passed
No gargantuan ups or downs
Just un-momentous moments passing
Warm and happy moments passing
Sustaining moments
On one of the daily-bread days
Of life

Milwaukeean Don Fraker has visited Door County for many years to take classes at The Clearing from Norb Blei and others. He and his wife bought a condo near Ellison Bay three years ago and have been finding a way to visit monthly ever since.

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