As time goes, very little of mine
was spent in Oklahoma...
but I remember the long
comfortable roads
and people
much like my friend, Deede.
I can see in her deep blue
eyes the happy dance of Cherokee
& other tribes at POWWOWS along the fine stretching
plains of the wonderful land
named Oklahoma.
I can see Deede with her
friends and family there,
like my old friend, Mrs. Magruder,
who was from Oklahoma, too,
and one of my best friends
when I was a kid in East Los Angeles.
I can see the rough and gentle
qualities in her being
like one who would have marveled
& enjoyed a ride on a Wells Fargo
coach in times past yet
still happily with us
with her: in her carriage, in her face sculpted like
the windswept plains
on some of their finest summer days in Oklahoma.
I wish I had longer memories
of Oklahoma as in the musical:
but some people carry the
kindness & beauty & intrigue
of the place that nurtured
their essence---
and this marvelous pattern
of clouds, Indians & pioneers
built on the friendship of time
during the formation of Oklahoma
God has put into my life
in the depth of Deede's friendship
which is a great joy to me
as I enjoy my being in 2,000
and sit comfortable in a McDonald's with Deede,
Dorothy, Mary and have our second cup of senior coffee
with a hot piece of apple pie
which she has filled with her
Oklahoma spark
which I will always love.