[Mark Blaeuer]

I'm cheering for you, Tim!

[R. Nemo Hill]

Me too, Tim!

Nemo

[Andrew Szilvasy]

Me as well.

[Rob Wright]

I'm so glad to hear of your recovery, Tim. I too have had major surgery this past year and a long stay in an ICU after it was discovered there was a problem – a big one. My prayers are with you.

[Catherine Chandler]

Update. Tim has put aside his walker in favor of a cane! Radiation starts Wednesday for 20 days (except week-ends).

Tim also revised his sonnet, "I Tracked the Marshes". It's now a double sonnet, "Requited", which he would like to share with you all.

Requited



I.
I've never feared I might not live till Spring
which seems so far away in February,
winter this year so long that it is scary.
Lord, how I long to see the geese take wing
from corn stubble where snow drifts disappear,
to witness the first greening of the grass.
This year for me that might not come to pass.
Thankful I have a Higher Power to steer
my future, I take one day at a time,
write this diary, read my daily psalm
in Sullivan translation. How they calm
a hunter who so long aspired to climb
over this prairie where I sank my roots
and tracked the marshes with my muddy boots.

II.
A month from now I hope my leg will heal
sufficiently for me to hit the brake,
snow drifts will swiftly dwindle. I shall take
a long drive to the fields where snowgeese wheel
bound for the Arctic like the natural force
they are, where far aloft the sandhill cranes
will cry kuk kuk, presaging April’s rains.
From every hillock rivulets will course.
I shall seek quiet refuge where the Jim
River dreams of the Gulf of Mexico,
bearing its freight of soil and melted snow.
The spring goose season never was for Tim,
so I won’t hunt. The hope to which I’ve clung
will be requited if I greet their young.

[Michael Cantor]

Pulling for you, Tim. That new second stanza sings!

[Susan McLean]

I agree with Michael: the second stanza is very effective. Your writing powers are strong. May you be so, too.

Susan

[Martin Elster]

I love that double sonnet, Tim. I’m glad to hear that you are recovering satisfactorily from the recent surgery, and I hope your experimental treatments go as well for you as possible. I, too, am cheering for you.

Martin

[Andrew Frisardi]

Another one here in the cheering section. I’m sad to see this dark news, Tim, but also inspired by your spirited approach to it, including the fine poems. I especially enjoyed those Commonweal pieces for Alan. Blessings and best wishes to you for the upcoming therapy. May your spirit and body confound the odds and prognosis.

[John Isbell]

Yes, these are fine sonnets. The spirit takes flight, and the body follows after. I am wishing you a full and speedy recovery from this adversity.

John