I had no idea what would become precious. — Megan Wilcher
Memories of my great-grandmother’s Christmas gift:
Torrone almond nougat with a silver half dollar.
As a teen, trendy gauntness, pierced ears,
praise written on assignments by favorite teachers.
In my twenties, a return to California and college after
three years living in a trailer house on the Makah Reservation.
The divorce I fought to obtain the year I turned thirty.
Relocation from Central Valley to Monterey Peninsula
where I met my tribe—poets congregating in Café Portofino.
Earning a Ph.D. in my mid-fifties.
Marriage to my soul mate in Big Sur overlooking ocean
on cold, clear afternoon on the first of November.
Goddess friends who are always there with hot herbal tea,
hugs and sympathy when I most need them.
A library of poetry, garden overflowing with jonquils,
this day filled with hope, sunshine, birdsong.
Jennifer Lagier has published nineteen books, in a variety of anthologies and literary magazines, taught with California Poets in the Schools, edits the Monterey Review, helps coordinate Monterey Bay Poetry Consortium Second Sunday readings. Her recent books include: Meditations on Seascapes and Cypress (Blue Light Press) and COVID Dissonance (CyberWit).
