Learning from the Ancestors around us

How can I develop more optimism as I approach every challenge?

How can I cultivate more kindness, generosity of spirit, and seemingly infinite patience and grace?

Oh, Robert Judd, 
what lessons can you teach me? 
How did you learn these magnanimous skills? 
Even though we met only through your obituary,
I ask you to be my teacher. 
I invite and welcome you 
as one of my protective forces, 
supporting me 
on this journey 
of life.

About this poem:

Inspired by this email obituary:

It is with profound sadness that I write to say that our Executive Director, Robert Judd, died suddenly on Saturday, August 24. He was 63. A distinguished scholar of early modern keyboard music, Bob had served the American Musicology Society as Executive Director since 1996; indeed, he served as our heart and soul as well. The breadth of knowledge, optimism and keen analytical mind with which he approached every challenge over those twenty-three years will be sorely missed. Even more, however, we will miss his kindness, his generosity of spirit, and what one member called his "seemingly infinite patience and grace.

This poem is part of my Solstice solar year poem cycle, where I write a poem a day from June 22, 2019 to June 21, 2020. The poem a day may get posted on a different day than it was written, or several poems might get posted on the same day. And if I choose to submit a poem to a literary journal, I delete it from this blog before doing so. That's my project. I hope it touches your soul and makes you think.

And maybe inspires you to write more poems of your own.