Eighty-Five

A Poem for Pauline

COMPOSER: Phala Tracy

I wrote this poem in the fall. It fell into my head one night and I wrote it down—listening to hear where it wanted to go next and following it as it unfolded—hardly editing it at all after that first moment of capturing it. It made me so aware of the gratitude I feel for Pauline and how she has shaped my life and my thinking and my creative experience. I had not been in touch with her for a while and it felt good to know that I had this beautiful chance to tell her thank you on her birthday – along with so many others whose lives she has touched. I was glad to be a part of this secretive surprise. When I learned of her passing, I was in a little town in the north woods of Minnesota – Lutsen. My six year old daughter asked me to say my poem. Again and again and again. That night, before bed, she recited it back to me. And then we said it together. It made me teary. After she fell asleep, I walked outside in the snow for a long time and listened and listened and listened…

Phala Tracy Composition