and so it goes

.. so many people
the back garden like a catering hall
and every night for seven nights
enough buzz and energy to light up the city of Manhattan
for a year or two.
and tonight, too
another blast of beauty with the last night of shiva and
the basketball boys showing up
and ilene and joy from GREASE days and
more food and more friends and more flowers
and more music
and then, we walked, sofie and i, me barefoot
she strolling on my arm,
we walked with audrey the dog
in front of us
around the corner ending shiva and back to life...
and as we rounded the corner Audrey (our dog)
began to snarl and bark at other dogs behind bars
and we rounded the other corner to head back and there was
the parking police ticketing everyone
everyone everyone on the block
and much to do
and much plummeting from the earthly realms back to reality
Tone is ready to jettison himself further upward
already gone there i bet
not around to fix parking tickets and
barking dogs and piles of uneaten cookies
and flowers off their blooms..
and so we begin
sof and i
inch by inch back in the world.

thank you to everyone who has been in touch with us
cards and smiles and songs and calls
thank you for pausing to celebrate a life well lived
thank you for sharing the joy of our lives together now

we will see how we move forward
a little at a time
we have work to do and balance to be found
i will probably continue to not answer the phone or even check messages
so please email me if you'd like to be in touch.

and if i am quiet for a while
that is a good and necessary thing
i have enough smoothed shoulders and kisses
and eyes of loving and sympathy for now to digest
and sof will figure out how to mourn...inch by inch as
we have done thus far.

the Bloc will be back in a week or so
i am doing a reading of Bounty of Lace
my Israeli play about women's response to life in a war zone
this week at a conference at Loyola Marymount
I will prepare the New Play fest at school
and Sof will go on a choir tour
and we will see
we will feel and touch and sink and rise as the breath comes and goes.

if you have a dish or a pot or a pan
once filled with gorgeous gracious food for us all
please come by and pick it up
i will leave everything at the top of the driveway and you can come anytime.

much love
and thanks
from Tony and his family
now changed and full of his heart
for all time