No I don’t have to know

it won’t happen to me, will it.

The avalanche of snow hits the mountain climber

but why do the people in the valley 

why do they get buried.

should have built their homes somewhere else

like, say, on sea coast away from mountains,

snow mountains or a larva spilling one that threatens

those are unpredictable treacherous

coastal homes can be swept away, but not so many

living on a houseboat, that may not be such a bad idea

And it is good that I don’t have an open fire, fireplace or wood stove

An open fire with sparks and flame that could burn my house down

or lightning that, you know what lightning can do,

or hurricanes, or tornadoes and earthquakes

It won’t happen to me because it hasn’t happened yet

so I must have been pretty smart all along.

Harold Garde splits his time between Belfast, and New Smyrna Beach, Florida. He is a painter with work in permanent museum and significant private collections. He is the subject of several art films that have been broadcast on Public Television in Florida, Maine and Wyoming, including one in the ongoing Maine Masters series.  His play The Rec Room was selected and performed in the Maine Fifteen Minute Play competition and later at the Atlantic Center for the Arts in Florida. In addition, a solo exhibition of his art work recently concluded at the Orlando Museum of Art in Florida.

Transformations
We tell stories. 
We tell stories to make sense of our lives.
We tell stories to communicate our experience of being alive.
We tell stories in our own distinct voice. Our own unique rhythm and tonality.

Transformations is a weekly story-telling column. The stories are written by community members who are my students. Our stories are about family, love, loss and good times. We hope to make you laugh and cry. Maybe we will convince you to tell your stories.
— Kathrin Seitz, editor, and Cheryl Durbas, co-editor

"Everyone, when they get quiet, when they become desperately honest with themselves, is capable of uttering profound truths. We all derive from the same source. There is no mystery about the origin of things. We are all part of creation, all kings, all poets, all musicians; we have only to open up, only to discover what is already there." — Henry Miller

Kathrin Seitz teaches Method Writing in Rockport, New York City and Florida. She can be reached at kathrin@kathrinseitz.com. Cheryl Durbas is a freelance personal assistant in the Midcoast area. She can be reached at cheryldurbas@tidewater.net.