A Sonnet for Cathaleen

Eulogy for Cathaleen and Her Books of Spells

Crooked Mile Valley    Cirsea Isles      A Sonnet for Cathaleen

In the Shiver of Winter, 1904

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Botanist Orchid by ROD w/Midjourney

Botanist Orchid 2 by ROD w/Midjourney

Eulogy to a Botanist

Your loving husband and collaborator, Jason

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A Sonnet for Cathaleen

With your orchid I can see what this naming means to me.

Your musing paid to a calli past

we know no cause why its petals fell

to casting shame and awarding blame.

I've seen so many plots your books disclose.

A ruse battles with what we knew at birth

there is no verdict like a curse burned into the heart of a forgotten

queen, a spider, moth, or stinging bee.

A garden of blossoms grows, the very hybrids the led to our shadowing.

Buried under the mansion's floor, guests walk over seeking more

when they are glutted by every dream they shared

with time clock kept and stamp Published for those who dare.

I read the letters you wrote with ink, a malevolent script

that winds the keys so we assure

our desperate need to Orchids name

and muddle our offering with our fame.

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Jason Read Aloud

Jason Reads Aloud at Cathaleen Orchid Garamund Eulogy's, 1904. Cathaleen spent many years researching, cataloging and Orchids. Jason is concerned about his wife's origins and their children's legacy, but he mourns her all the same.

Crooked Mile Cemetery by ROD w/Midjourney

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Benefactor

Benefactor's Note: This epistle is written in the voice of Jason Garamund, Circle Founder & Medium Garamund, who is no kin to me. He was born into the aethers ingrained with thousands of words, experiences and phrases. It is not my business what he chose to write.

Jason Garamund collected his late wife Cathaleen Garamund handwritten notes, typed manuscripts, and tintypes from 1904 to publish as a book. Understanding her desire for a small family, he married her to ensure hassle-free travel without the need for a nanny. If she had any children, they would join them on their expeditions. The family remained together for years until they departed for educational reasons or marriage. Then, it was just the two of them again. He was filled with an immense sense of gratitude. They had gone through so many travails.
However, their travels came to a halt due to the Six Year War. They hired a repairman, whom they thought was respectable, to fix their long-neglected narrow boat after the war ended in 1904. Cathaleen was fatally struck by a hit-and-run driver while shopping in Newfaire the next day. Despite the repairman being arrested, tried, and sent to prison for second degree murder, Jason didn't believe he was involved in the intentional killing. Stricken with grief and guilt, he nevertheless wrote her eulogy. Jason suspected her killer was known by Jason and Cathaleen, and he intentionally wanted her dead.
In 1907, on July 14th, the day Jason knew Crooked Mile was celebrating their independence, he took the manuscript out for a final review. He expected to send it by mail to a renowned spiritualist publisher the next day.