Arc of Time A hundred years Before I was born A woman I know only from Family history Passed away Her loved ones Must have wept When she was gone Love shown In the lines Of a journal The laying out Of minutes And hours A revelation Of character Intimacy lives In the details Sometimes I can picture A different past Glimmers of Possibility But realization is Healing Rather than Foundation Carefree days A moment Of authenticity Caught forever Consciousness Creates space For that truth To become Daily reality We are our own Authors Our own Stories Each one A gift To the arc Of time Color And passion The stillness Of waiting Connection Across unimaginable Distance Across time These things Inform our existence And the circle Is complete .......... Many thanks to Mark (anahata.c) for allowing me to use his art as a background for this piece. You can see his original HERE With the exception of the kanji characters, the handwriting brushes were made by me from scanned copies of old family documents. What a rewarding experience it was to create brushes with such personal meaning! It adds a depth for me that wouldn't have been there if I'd used brushes from the public domain. I wrote the poem in response to the image, btw, not the other way around.