in spirit
| godspeed, theresa
actively attuned
to distillations of peace,
i notice wellness
radiating quietly and evenly
throughout my body
and in the energetic
space surrounding me,
the memory of your warmth
and approachability
fueling my stride
as i walk up and down
the aisles of market basket
in a steady cadence.
i hear the heel of each shoe
meet the polished
floor tiles, left foot,
right foot, left foot, right,
feeling in each step
your can-do
confident purposefulness
reverberating up
through my bones,
sensing the gentle wash
of air on my face as i move
forward, humbled
to be doing just this:
shopping for ripe avocados,
for juicy lemons, for snap peas
and almond butter,
receiving dave’s text
from across the store
—got the eggs!—
conversing back and forth
back and forth
with pria and gerry
in our weekly
flurry of check-out chat
and laughter,
keeping alive the glow
of weekly check-in chats
with you on yoga days,
grateful for my heart,
beating,
grateful for my lungs,
breathing.
it could be otherwise.
—dotty seiter
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6 x 6″; collaged scraps, watercolor pencil, and ink on acrylic on paper
Make Yourself at Home series
2026
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Notes on poem and art:
• “in spirit” was written in memoriam to honor and celebrate the life of Theresa Woodbury, the vibrant capable young director of my local senior center who died in March 2026. Theresa made that space and program a dynamic lively home away from home where seniors in my community connect and participate, so much so that we have to fight for parking spaces!
• I continue to explore my current house series with collaged scraps harvested from art I’ve created over the years. In this particular square on my work-in-progress paper quilt, I decreased context clues and further simplified the collection of shapes I selected.
dottyseiter: now playing 
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