Dair taught us to reach for more,
one plate, one verse, one drawer 
one damned dollar at a time. 

She showed us where we went wrong,
not because she was perfect-
to save us from her mistakes.

She would not have been quiet
about my untidy house
or all the junk in the yard.

She once observed to me that
my neck was a little short,
so I needed to stand tall.

She might have let silence hang
when my first marriage went South
there was not a lot to say.

Her directness was kindness-
it was what we needed most,
now we need to teach ourselves.