Dedication to Dr. Perry Wolk-Weiss and His Musings
11/27/55 - 5/11/21
Perry wrote these poems during his journey with cancer. He planned to put them into a book, so I offer this to you in loving memory of him.
His entire life was devoted to healing and helping others live their best lives so I hope these continue to inform yours. Perry passed away on Tuesday, May 11, 2021 surrounded in love. Perry was diagnosed with multiple myeloma and AL amyloidosis, possibly the result of volunteering his chiropractic skills for the first responders shortly after the 9-11 attack. He handled these diseases with amazing grace and determination. He had such a positive attitude that he was going to survive many more years. Perry worked his hardest to make sure his family was happy during even the rough times and up until the very end he was making us smile.
Perry was a devoted husband and father who loved spending time with his family. He was passionate about his work as a holistic chiropractor and nutritionist of The Get Well Center in Bound Brook, NJ and loved guiding people on their healing journeys. He was always willing to help out people, including his patients, friends, and extended family.
Following his own advice, Perry took great care of himself as a vegetarian, hiker, avid tennis player, rock climber, kayaker and bicyclist even though he put in many work hours. Perry had a zest for all of life especially drumming and harmonica playing. He loved to work with wood and made a beautiful coffee table and had plans to make more from the great old black walnut tree limbs in his backyard. He was always willing to give new things a try and to go on new adventures. Perry loved to prepare beautifully plated meals for Cindy when he wasn’t working. Perry was a kind, generous and loving person who will be missed by so very many.
As he had 2 rare diseases, we have chosen to make the Amyloidosis our priority as it seems to be the most devastating and least treatable. You will find a link here if you would like to make a donation in his memory : https://donate.arci.org/fundraiser/3260648
A Recipe For Love
Gather all your ingredients. You know what they are
A cup of knowing
A tablespoon of sweetness, like the smell of a newborn child
A dollop of sorrow
A heaping teaspoon of joy
A melding of remembrances long gone bye
Mix slowly, gently with kindness and compassion
Let it sit and meld then warm, to change, to become, to be one
Grab a spoon, take a small taste and relish in the marriage of the flavors
It contains it all, Take it mindfully. Savior it
And don’t forget to share with all that are at your table.
Cancer
They speak, we listen but do not hear.
Then we fall-fast.
Gangly arms grabbing for a hold, a pause to find a place.
We begin to climb slowly back to a place we thought we knew.
Only to find a new knowing.
We gather all we have and all we know and love to bring us back.
Not an old place. But a different place.
A place that can brighten our eyes or darken our souls.
A place unfamiliar yet becomes familiar with each passing day.
A place we begin to get comfortable with only to find it’s transitory and we fall again.
We reach out and grab on to pause and begin the climb over again to a new place.
A place of hope, love and peace
Dandelions
They rise from secret hiding places.
Showing their yellow faces in places not wanted but still their home.
Dotting perfect lawns with their presence standing amongst the grasses
proclaiming their place in the world.
And then, as transitory as life they turn to a globe of fluff to be
captured by the passing breeze. To travel to a new home, a strange
place to only go back to sleep and…
Then awaken to start the process all over again.
Death
A kinship that was born from day one.
A sacred bond, a promise never to be broken.
We close our eyes, our mind, our heart, and our ears.
We walk the other way.
We sometimes run only to find we always come back to the same place.
So find a tree and sit and have some tea.
Talk, laugh, engage, ask questions, and receive answers.
Become intimate.
Because once you know, once you befriend,
only then will you find the freedom you long for.
Life
As fragile as the dust floating in the sunbeam of a cracked window shade.
Easily disrupted, easily discombobulated.
Questions, Questions, Questions
Oh, so many. Coming, oh so fast.
Why now? Why here? Why me?
A seeking of the meaning, the sorrow, the joy, the love, the purpose.
So short.
We go round and round looking, wondering only to find we come back to one
answer, one word-
Precious
Something to be honored, to be enjoyed to be fully embodied in all its
glory and manifestations.
Some questions will go unanswered.
Some will never be known.
But it is the only one you have been blessed with.
So squeeze it, hold it, hug it. Bring it close!
Answers will be revealed with time and in the end it will not matter.
That speck is us easily disrupted, easily discombobulated.
Yet always returning when the light shines through the cracks.
Oh Spring
It awakens like a sleeping bear after a long winters nap.
Stretching and yawning. Shaking out the dust of dark, cold days gone by.
The daffodils stretch their bodies towards the sun, soaking up the warming rays
on their faces.
They are the first sign of things to come.
The trees begin to speak to the rustle of the breezes so warm, they too are
awakening.
Bringing the songs and chatter of birds to beautify the day with their music.
Life begins to stir once again. So subtle, yet so gentle an unfolding.
You may miss it if you don’t pay attention.
Pay attention. This is a time to absorb the rebirth of you, the world and all its
glory.
Be grateful for all of it.
It is here to bring you joy, to bring you solace, to allow you to connect to the love
deep inside that like the bear has been sleeping of so soundly.
Now is your time to awaken to turn towards the warmth, oh so familiar.
Trees
Dancing as the breezes flow.
Solidly rooted in their place, marking time.
Observing all that transpires without judgement. A sanctuary.
Seemingly silent yet speaking in a language all their own.
Providing comfort, shelter, signs of beauty. Mindful and present.
Playing their part in the story without wanting anything in return.
But giving back so much.
Love
Love it dwells up from deep places.
Places unseen, places of quiet contemplation.
It dwells up from the hug of a grandchild.
It dwells up from the eyes of a newborn child.
It dwells up from loss.
It dwells up from places and people long forgotten.
It dwells up from memories stored away.
It dwells up from loss and from joy.
Love ties us together, binds those we know and those that are unknown.
Love strengthens our connection and ultimately brings us to a place –we call home.
A place familiar, a place that is safe.
It dwells up when we let go and surrender to its power
A power that will not die.
A power that can heal.
A power that can make us whole.
Fireflies
As the evening light begins to fade nature begins its magical show.
They rise up from their hiding places.
Twinkling lights. Dancing their dance.
Entertaining us with their beauty.
Draping our night with a moment of peace.
A beautiful finale to a challenging day.
We are blessed to witness this unfolding and realize we are a small part of the play.
Falling Leaves
Hues of crimson and golden yellow gently falling to the ground.
A dance of pirouettes on their journey to their final resting place.
Resting after fulfilling their purpose.
Shade for a weary traveler from the scorching sun.
A calming place for two friends to enjoy some pizza.
A hiding place for a song bird to express its voice.
Laying there softly, silent slowly nourishing the mother from whence they came.
Fulfilling its destiny only to start the process again.
Goodbye my friend sleep peacefully, we will surely meet again.
Tears
Sleeping soundly, quiet anticipation of when to awaken. Something innocent.
Then slowly awakening. Dwelling up from the unexpected
Dwelling up from deep places often hidden away.
Meanings, oh so many. Joy, frustration, sorrow, longing, exuberance, finality.
Releasing their story to the world shifting our souls to a new dimension.
Sometimes endless.
Only to return to that place of quiet anticipation until awakened, again.
The Virus
It slid in like a thief in the night quietly, stealth fully leaving in its wake
devastation and heartache, pain and suffering.
But beauty too, and kindness that presented itself out of the shadows always there but not expressed.
It brought people together.
It made people think to shift their lives-to be closer
yet at the same time far away.
A marking of time.
A new milepost that will be talked about for generations.
A new milepost that can bring us together or pull us apart,.
A new milepost that can make us a community of one or leave us to our solitude,
A milepost that we all get to choose where we will be- when the stories are told.
As time sneaks by like the thief in the night what will we leave in its wake?
Coming Home
The squeak of the floor boards.
The smells that are oh so familiar.
The sounds as the morning awakens from its slumber.
The world begins to clear its sleepy eyes to start a new.
Oh such a familiar place.
A place you have left.
A place you may have forgotten, yet its true essence, a small glimmer
always sat inside of you waiting for you to come home.
Come home to the familiar, to the comfortable, to the knowing.
In your heart this is where you belong.
Where you stand tall, like redwoods.
Where you stand grounded deep in the soil.
A place familiar but may have dimmed over time.
Come home to all you know, to be true to yourself and who you are.
Those squeaky floor boards and smells and sounds are you.
All of you. It’s your home.
A BIRTHDAY POEM FOR CINDY
It’s your time, it’s your day.
the time to celebrate you.
The uniqueness that is you.
The open-heartedness that is you.
The bigness and smallness that is you.
The you that will never be duplicated.
The you that fits like a puzzle piece in the cosmos completing its destiny.
Celebrate you and your aliveness.
Celebrate all the lessons you have learned.
The experiences that make you you.
Celebrate. Celebrate. Celebrate.
It’s your time. It’s your day.
May 2020
Coming Home
The squeak of the floor boards.
The smells that are oh so familiar.
The sounds as the morning awakens from its slumber.
The world begins to clear its sleepy eyes to start a new.
Oh such a familiar place.
A place you have left.
A place you may have forgotten, yet its true essence, a small glimmer
always sat inside of you waiting for you to come home.
Come home to the familiar, to the comfortable, to the knowing.
In your heart this is where you belong.
Where you stand tall, like redwoods.
Where you stand grounded deep in the soil.
A place familiar but may have dimmed over time.
Come home to all you know, to be true to yourself and who you are.
Those squeaky floor boards and smells and sounds are you.
All of you. It’s your home.
Questions
Questions, questions, questions.
They whiz bye like bees searching for pollen on a warm spring day.
So many, so fast, so random, so raw. Like uncut diamonds, so angular, so dull, so sharp, so vast.
Stop! Get Quiet!
Step back, tune in. Slowly begin to carve, to sculpt, and to remove the unnecessary.
Slowly quietly it will reveal itself in all its glory.
A thing of beauty, so precious.
Something to unlock the mysterious and settle you on the right path.
US
A thought, a look, the smell of your hair, the sound of you laughing.
A warmth starts to percolate from deep inside-The want of a warm embrace.
What will the story reveal?
What can we learn?
How can we grow?
A blip in time. But so long, too.
Mutual respect and admiration sharing our experiences. Sharing the joy, sharing the sorrow.
Coming together, moving apart and coming together again to a higher ground with love as the foundation.
Deep love that binds us. Not to be taken for granted.
Water it, nurture it, respect it and it will blossom into something totally unexpected.
Take us on adventures yet unknown and help us weather the storms that may come.
The story has not unfolded. It’s not completed.
Discover the next chapter with me.
A thought, a look, the smell of your hair, the sound of you laughing.
At some point will be a distant memory.
Yet for now, relish it and enjoy the warmth it generates deep inside for its all we have.
To my love
Perry
06/29/2020
IT’S IN THE EYES YOU KNOW
It’s in the eyes you know.
Fresh, gentle, innocent, loving, playful.
All the possibilities are there.
Joy and sorrow arrive and
stay for a long time.
All the suffering, too.
Yet time moves slowly and
everything is
bigger, bolder, brighter.
A hug, a cookie, a new bike.
The embrace of a grandparent.
The approval of Mom.
Ah, the innocence.
Can we stay a little while longer,
please, please, please?
Can we go back?
Can we hold on to those memories?
It’s in the eyes you know.
THE FEELING
An image, a thought, a smell.
Things begin to stir from deep inside.
Tears start to softly travel.
You question why, you wonder where?
All you know is it envelopes you like a dense fog.
Explore the morning mist as it burns away.
Only to come back again and again.
The mystery, oh so large and oh so small.
Welcome to being human.
AS THE NIGHT SETTLES IN
As the night settles in
the band begins to warm up.
Slowly only a few participate until
as the warm night is enveloped
in darkness.
Its colony of call and response can
be heard.
Nor Beethoven, Vivaldi nor Liste.
Calling us to pay attention, slow down.
Become present.
Stay, listen for a while.
The rhythmic patterns speak a
secret language known to the
speakers.
An exclusive language of the
season.
Endlessly they play tunes until the
wee small hours of the night.
Then to sleep and rest to return
once again.
