Attention Is Love

for Yvette

A watercolor painting of a red-headed woman
smiles at me in my kitchen each morning.
My French friend sent it to cheer me up
at just the right time when I needed her presence.

She is my friend who writes beautiful pieces
about music and dance and history and family.
Though written in English, somehow I sense
that she feels these stories in French.

She reads her works slowly, as words and silence
dance a slow dance where emotion can breathe.
With uncanny attention to word harmony
we hear her unique bilingual perspective.

She paints vintage portraits of expressive women,
speaks with theatrical expression.
She is whole, she is kind, she is boldly soft-spoken.
She loves through offering attention.

My friend, Yvette, died in March and I miss her so.

The above image is one of Yvette’s watercolor paintings
that she sent to me; I keep it displayed on my fridge.