A Poem from Cathy Opper in Honor of Bob Sessions

It is so bitterly cold today that even smoke escaping chimneys seems reluctant to move,

as it should be; the world should stop while someone so dear endures the dark

and lonely pain. Little birds should hide in bushes, tree limbs muffle icy creakings; drops of ice

should catch the sun’s cold light, trap it motionless, tears ready to flow, tears for later.

Now love consumes us, commits us to remember, to impress indelibly upon our souls, the imprint.

Into corners of our being we tuck him, all the details accumulated, collected over years,

preparing for this moment. We thought we understood; now we almost do. We thought

we could be ready; we aren’t. But time speaks to him now; we wait, resist, (we owe him no less),

and the beautiful and icy drops, full of light, shimmer and prepare to fall.