OSI Prompt #51 - Spectral

(Photo by Michael Gallagher for Missoulian)

This last week, a wake was held for Agnes 'Oshanee' Kenmille.  She was ninety-three years old when she passed, and one of the best known and most beloved elders of the Flathead Reservation, where I am blessed to call home.  Oshanee was nationally renowned for her hide tanning and beadwork.  But beyond her mastery of the traditional craft she practiced and taught, she was known and loved for her remarkable spirit. I am not a Tribal member, but every time I saw her, I was deeply aware of what a treasure she was, and thought to myself that this beautiful woman knows something about living that we all need to know - about finding meaning and purpose in life, about enduring, loving, and about finding joy in what one has in the present.   I only saw her a few times a year, but she left an indelible impression on my heart.

  

Thank you for the prompt.  I offer this in memory of Oshanee .....

Crescent moon eyes

look up, twinkling

round shoulders shake

with laughter's echo

So many years, showing

the way, with nimble hands and heart

softening hides, velvety white

then gloves, vests, moccasins

Ninety-three years walking

this earth, again and again

the joy of now

Incalculable

the loss, a perfect Oshanee

shaped hole in their hearts

Yet time will endow

star-studded skies and aching

hearts with twinkling eyes

and crescent moons