Clever Magazine, Summer '10 " Poetry of Nature " (www.clevermag.com)

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Poetry of Nature:
Good-bye to Viola

by Felipe Alvarez

Felipe was born in Spain, immigrated to Brazil where he studied architecture and then came to the US in 1964. Singing, writing, painting are only a few of his many avocations. His latest book "A Hummingbird's Quest" is due by the end of this year. It's a parable of retired people and their quest to live their last days in peace, beauty and dignity, illustrated with hummingbird's pictures by the renowned Brazilian nature photographer Jose Francisco Haydu.

The somber morning appeared wrapped in a mantle of lead.

Though calm, sky and ocean displayed the grey tones of gloom. Not even the seagulls appeared eager to fly, while a long row of pelicans stood atop Dana Point’s breakwater, cuddled under their wings and wallowing in their own droppings.

Viola passed away a few weeks before, and her family, fulfilling her last wishes, proceeded with the cremation of her remains, and this morning her ashes were to be scattered over the ocean.

About sixty mourners, among family members and closest friends, boarded the large boat and gathered at the lower deck.

A few sleepy seals, crowded on the buoys outside the port, paid no attention to the boat as it slid by. The brief sailing took them to the designated area, and as the skipper cut the engine, a heavy silence befell the group of grievers.

Mrs. Schafer didn’t want a religious ceremony so her ashes were silently dispersed without more ado. The group kept a respectful silence while the ashes flew in the air to land softly on the water.

Then came the flowers.

Friends and family members cast wreaths and bouquets of colorful blossoms into the sea, and at that moment, to everyone’s surprise, from the depths of the ocean emerged a group of playful dolphins. They immediately began frolicking with the wreaths and bouquets, carrying them on their snouts back and forth and around in a floral, aquatic game.

The congregation observed the dolphins’ romp in silence with mixed emotion, or perhaps at that instant, they felt overwhelmed by the joy of nature’s sendoff and not by human sadness.

Alas! I wasn’t there to see it.