t-a-k-o-d-a-h, takodah, all hail!
even after all the times
i’ve turned off route 119
and passed through
the camp takodah
booster gate to drive
up the dirt road
into camp—
CAMP!!!—
first at 9 years of age
and then again
and again
and again
as camper,
LIT,
kitchen worker,
leader,
division head,
family camper,
and as transport
for my children
and now my grandchildren,
themselves campers
and leaders,
every
single
time,
butterflies
—in lepidopteran
generation
after generation
after generation
for nearly 70 years—
have spread their wings
to thump softly
against the inner walls
of my tummy
in the same way as did
the 1959 butterflies
who made it impossible
for me to eat anything more
than a small bowl
of rice krispies
before heading to camp
on opening day
to this place
i’ll forever call home.
—dotty seiter
=====
6 x 6″; acrylic on gessobord
honorary member of the Make Yourself at Home series
2015
=====
Notes on poem and art:
• “t-a-k-o-d-a-h” is an homage to YMCA Camp Takodah in Richmond, NH.
• camp!!! remains a favorite among all the paintings I’ve created over the years, both for what it holds symbolically and for the painting effects I was able to achieve, effects that bring alive the embodied sensory feelings of being at camp. This painting makes a fitting conclusion to my current Make Yourself at Home series.
dottyseiter: now playing 
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