Labor Day: Two articles to write - Memories in the poem below /Poem: The Aloe Vera as a Good Christian Soldier

Well, once you sink your teeth into this book, I dare you to stop. I bought it for a dime at the library. Never read John Grisham before. Fortunately I had formed a visual picture of the hero - Mitch McDere - before I learned that Tom Cruise played him in the movie, a movie I will never see.

If anyone wants to borrow the book - and pass it on - please lemme know. I tried to pawn off the Patti Smith memoir of her and Mapplethorpe on my kids but they wouldn't have it.

The letdown from finishing a good book is palpable. Am now reading Howard Schulz's Onward, the story of how the retired CEO of Starbucks returned to restore the firm to profitability. He calls his staff and employees "partners" and treats them like fellow human beings, not as slaves.

Always a thrill when the kids come and visit. Grace goes straight for the steps.

Here's a nice portrait shot. "Is my hair okay?" I yelled as Dan took the picture. "Yes," said Nicole. Grace turned on the radio in the background. She loves pressing buttons and is delighted when the automatic door opens to reveal a CD. I think I'll listen to Keith Jarrett now, thanks for reminding me.

Had a great interview with Sharon Piercy which will appear in the next edition of the Compass. In this issue, I'll interview people on dialysis or who have had kidney transplants due to taking the drug Lithium.

Sharon is on the list, which means The Kidney Transplant Wait List. I emailed her the above photo to let her see the drugs she'll be on. Her transplant center is University of PA.

Mine is Einstein Medical Center. Here's a brief video of my chief surgeons Radi Zaki, Stalin Campos; and Shiang-Cheng Kung, my nephrologist. Kung looks much younger in the video. They're all Jung.

This will be the most important Compass we've ever put out cuz we're gonna expose lithium for the dangerous drug it is.

Sharon was on it for 18 years, I was on it for 16 and a half.

I'm organizing my poetry. It's on the floor of the middle bedroom with yellow pieces of paper with their category: love poems ("Love for the Blind Poet Dave McGill")- neighbor poems ("The Man in the Distance") - Bird poems ("The Bluejay's Day") - Daily Life of Ruth poems ("The Light on the Closet Door").

So many. So many. So many forgotten ones, like this one:

Note: I used to take my client "Evelyn" for therapy at a Christian counseling center and wait, with my book, until she was finished.

THE ALOE VERA AS A GOOD CHRISTIAN SOLDIER

"Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life." - Proverbs, 4:23

They all bring books to the waiting room,
She, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle,
He, The Spirituality of Depression.

No one knows anyone until we open our mouths
and reveal ourselves.
It could take many years and many yawns.
I will drink in every word.

In the waiting room
in this Christian land
we set up our own territories:
on the tables beside us
or, in my case, on the floor.

The three of us wait
at different stages in our lives
and the aloe vera waits with us
its gift is to heal blood wounds
Where is the gift to be found to
heal the wounds of the heart?