Disclaimer: The views expressed in this episode about vaccines, medical care, and esotericism do not represent those on the TAPIT team.
When Kelly, a concert bassoonist, is canceled for her refusal to get vaccinated, a whole new universe opens, her father’s star burning brightest.
In this episode, host Todd Boss lends and ear, explores Kelly's loss, and then channels her grief into a life-giving poem from beyond.
The Poem
Gratitude Re-Circulator (An Invention)
Hey, Kelly, just wanted
to say I miss you, miss
your smile. Four years
is an awful long while
to be away from
a daughter no matter
where you go, or how,
or how far.
As you can see, I got
your call. Sorry it took
awhile to reply. You
die and you think That’s
it, it’s done, but then
a little light gets in,
and there’s joy. Y’know?
You’ve forgiven and
moved on, and I’m no
engineer anymore,
but I co-designed this
gratitude re-circulator.
Guess that’s what poets
and musicians are for.
I hear you have new
instruments, too, new
schematics, anyway.
We take what work
a lifetime will allow,
and it doesn’t really
matter how, but a father
loves to hear a daughter
play. So, play!
That’s all I’ve got to
say, for now. Glad
you’re home. Kiss
your mom. Nobody
stays long mad.
Love, Dad.
Todd asked Kelly to record her thoughts after having the poem for a few days and sharing it with her grandmother, her mother, and some of her father’s old friends. Here are two of the recordings she sent.
“Channeling” this poem for Kelly was a unique experience for me as a writer. Poets call these kinds of poems (poem that are obviously spoken in the voice of another character) “persona poems.” And while I’ve written persona poems before, I’ve never done it in the voice of an actual deceased person. Kelly didn’t come to me looking for a poem about her father. She came wanting to talk about how her very personal response to the pandemic uniquely disrupted her career in the performing arts. But underneath that issue was a deeper one that offered me an opportunity to speak to her in a voice I felt she needed to hear. I myself am a father, and I have a daughter. So it wasn’t difficult for me to “channel” my own fatherly voice for Kelly. Just new. And surprisingly emotional. — TB
If you're interested in learning more about Kelly's astrology work, click here or find her on Instagram.
If you think there's a poem in your story, leave us a message on our Haiku, Hawaii, guest line, at 808-300-0449.
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