A discovery while walking

Yesterday I was walking in a new area, along a lakefront in the nearby town of Ellsworth. I spotted a bench in a little evergreen grove that looked like it might be a park, but there was no signage. The bench was appealing so I walked up to it. It was a memorial to someone I knew! I didn’t know her well, but I attend the same meditation center as she and her husband Sylvester Pollet (who passed away in 2007, before my time there). I went to a memorial service for her at the center back in 2023, shortly after she passed on May 28, 2023. Just over two years ago.

MaJo’s Obituary

I had another fragile connection with MaJo and Sylvester. When I lived in Connecticut, I was more involved in poetry than I am now. I followed a number of obscure poets and poetry groups online. I found out that a complete poetry collection of chaplets* called Backwoods Broadsides was for sale. I had no connection at that time to Sylvester Pollet, MaJo, or even Ellsworth, except as a town I passed through on the way to Franklin, where Sam and I vacationed a couple of times a year. But I felt like I had to have that collection. So I ordered it. It wasn’t expensive and came in a beautifully wrapped cardboard box. I browse the chaplets occasionally, but not as thoroughly as I’d like to.

*chaplet = portmanteau word combining chapbook and booklet

My post the day I received Backwoods Broadsides

Getting back to the bench — I sat on it for awhile. There was some communication between me and MaJo that there never was in real life. I asked her for help. I’m not sure what kind of help I wanted, some guidance on life and death, I guess. I felt comforted and I still feel a sense of strength when I think about discovering that sturdy granite bench, with her name and “good trouble” engraved on it.