Category Archives: Poetry

Sixty-Six for Sixty Six, Part XII: Healing

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Posted by on in children, Inspiration, Personal Values, Poetry, Social

March 3, 2017, Prescott- 

Some kids asked for Beatles music

In particular, “All You Need Is Love”

Teacher put on Scottish folk tunes,

and bagpipery, instead.

The focus was on painting Tartans,

on sheets of felt.

Emotional healing is the hardest,

because the medicine is so fleeting.

Painting, music and dance

are the remedies she has chosen

for our charges.

Some resist, because the pain

is just too deep.

For me, there is also

the element of fasting.

I kept it simple,

explaining that I simply

don’t eat lunch,

until after Spring Break.

It is a far less onerous

mental task,

now,

then back in the days

when I needed to cast off

my consuming ego.

Most folks, though,

find healing begins

when they are seen and heard.

Which None Can Really Know

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Posted by on in children, Education, Matters of Faith, Poetry, Social, Striving

February 16, 2017, Prescott-

I work for someone who doesn’t entirely trust me,

and is constantly seeming to be under the gun.

I work with children who don’t entirely trust anyone,

and are each very much under siege.

I work in a community which thrives on trusting its own,

yet views the wider world with a flinty eye.

I am a native son of a country which is not sure who to trust,

yet asks the rest of the planet to go with its judgement.

I am a citizen of a planet which is getting more intimate,

and is entering a future which none can really know.

Sweetness

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Posted by on in Poetry, Social

February 14, 2017, Prescott-  

It’s said that Valentine sought to safeguard marriage,

from Caesar Claudius II’s misguided bans.

Marriage outlived Claudius,

who outlived Valentine,

by design.

Love is somewhat honoured,

by candy, and flowers.

I have found it is equally honoured,

by being able to be with someone,

for hours.

They turn into years and decades,

and the returns are paid,

in spades.

I had my wonderful decades,

and wish the same to those

coming along.

No matter how one marks today,

let your love remain ever strong.

Another joy on which to hold:

Real love is never gone.

Oroville

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Posted by on in Community, Poetry

February 13, 2017, Prescott- 

Deluge replaces drought,

America’s Garden is getting sodden.

Our highest dam is not high enough, so

masses of people and animals seek greater heights.

Deluge replaces dust,

along Oroville’s ruffled Feather.

 

Polarities

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Posted by on in impediments, Poetry, Social

February 13, 2017, Prescott-

Snow besets the Northeast,

Rain fills the Southwest’s waterways,

Dust retreats, into mud.

 

The Alt-Right cries foul,

The Prog-Left yells foul words,

Civility retreats, into a cave.

 

Strength looks like force,

Humility is seen as weakness,

Sensibility retreats, into a whirlwind.

 

I  am listening quietly,

You wince at my expression,

Perception retreats, into personal mythology.

Janus Blinks

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Posted by on in Inspiration, Poetry

January 31, 2017, Prescott-

Reminiscences,

New Year’s Day, and a San Diego rain

More rain, as the nation remembered

Martin Luther King.

Chills in the air,

and chillblains,

in the lungs of many friends.

Two good workouts,

with snow to be removed.

Winter can’t help

but be fast about its business.

So, as the Sun gets higher,

in the northern sky,

boreal winds begin to fly.

Snowmen and frosty flakes

get nudged, ever so slightly,

by crocuses, roses and chocolate.

Two-Hour Delay

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Posted by on in children, Education, Poetry

January 24, 2017, Prescott-

School started at 10,

instead of 8.

Ice clogged the streets,

many pick-up drivers feared being late.

So, as I drove carefully along,

there were several who swung around me.

Arriving safely at work,

I was glad to, rid of traffic, be.

Shortened schedules bother our students,

a lack of mid-morning breakfast,

also an unwelcome surprise-

how imprudent.

We made it safely through, with no bumps and bruises.

A fair amount of learning,

even a short day infuses.

 

Patriot’s Day

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Posted by on in Poetry, Social

January 14, 2016, Prescott-

Bostonians tend to hang together,

Hell or high water.

The film now out,

depicting the events of 4/2013,

shows this, true to form.

My life, back in the day,

was mirrored by  the way

people had each other’s backs.

Seeing these scenes,

brought me to tears.

There were so many memories

of the fires we endured,

as eighth-graders,

in the year of strife: 1963.

There was so much heartache,

in 1973-75,

when the neighbourhoods

were pitted against each other.

This was Boston, though,

and we saw through the deception.

We came back together.

We stayed bonded, all of us,

even from a distance,

during 9/11,

and once again,

during April, 2013.

The phone call home,

after the bombings,

brought a blessed message:

“Nick didn’t run this year.

Everyone’s okay here.”

Meaning Business

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Posted by on in Education, Personal Values, Poetry, Social, Striving, Uncategorized

January 12, 2017, Prescott-

The child claimed what’s his.

A grown man can’t hold what’s his.

I make little go far.

The above verse is in reference to one of our boys speaking out, about respect, across all lines. He is the smallest of our students, but is being raised by loving parents, to not give an inch, to anyone bigger and stronger, when it comes to holding onto what belongs to him.

A very troubled man, claiming to speak for his Lord, is finding that hubris is an empty vessel, and doesn’t take the place of living in the path of God’s Messengers.  He is leaving shattered pieces, for others to pick up and carry forward.

Much had to be done, financially, these past two weeks.  I made it, thanks to a short-term advance from my bank, which will be re-paid, in full, at midnight.  This is a small example of what gets achieved, time and again, with relatively little.  I will not let my responsibilities, to loved ones, or to those who meet my needs, ever go unmet.

Responsibility for self is always basic.