POEMS BY MEMBERS:
Welcome to new member Henrietta Romman
HE CALLS
Henrietta Romman
Come to me, Apple of my eye,
Come closer, I have rest for you.
Abide with me, you shall not die,
Come to me, Apple of my eye.
Lift up your heart, look at the
sky,
Await the trumpet's sound so true.
Come to me, Apple of my eye,
Come closer, I have rest for you.
IN SUMMER SHADE
Harding Stedler
I stood, one of four,
a sentinel
in front of the boyhood home
of a would-be poet
beside the dirt road
in the country.
I felt protective,
sixty years ago,
when he sat beneath my limbs.
I wrapped them
around his thoughts
and assured him of his worth.
At times, he seemed so sad,
in need of love,
and I caressed him with my breeze.
And when he seemed
too hot from haying,
I gave him shade.
I could not speak his language,
yet I gave to him my heart.
I think he knew,
for never a day passed
but what he returned
in worship at my feet.
NOTHING SMALL
Judy Young
There is nothing small
this time of day.
There is only the slanting light
washing across the stretch of hill
that rises in the distance
behind these silhouetted pines.
What is more poetic
than watching the hill shine
and the valley gray
and the solitary crow
flap its way between the two?
A ghazal
WEATHER WATCHER
Velvet Fackeldey
Winter brought no snow this
year.
How do we know we had winter this year?
There were some cold and
blustery days
but alternated with warmth this year.
It wasn't cold enough to kill
the bugs
so there'll be lots of chiggers this year.
I like a winter that's warm
and sunny
but it can be bad news for the rest of this year.
A spring so windy I can
hardly stand
may blow in a scorching summer this year.
There's nothing we can do
about the weather;
maybe in the future, but not this year.
TESTAMENTS
Phyllis Moutray
One mid-July, St. Louis afternoon,
with an outside temp of 102
and an inside summer flu,
I watched a movie.
BURNING UP
Mark Tappmeyer
"God is a consuming fire."
(Hebrews 12:29)
happens
when you’re
Joan
or Francis
God-tindered
into blaze
never free to enjoy
collecting Fostoria
or frequenting cafes
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WHAT AM I?
A riddle
(Answer
at bottom of this column)
Nancy Powell
Do you keep your
shades pulled tight
to block out all daylight?
Do you wrap up cozy warm in fur
or do cool places you prefer?
I like my house very dark,
and digging tunnels in the park.
THE BIG OWE
Todd Sukany
(To Emily)
Eat all the Kreme but not
in mass—
Success in compromise
Too fast will make your waist harassed
And guilt your thunder thighs
As tablespoon with ipecac
Akin to binge and purge
The Kreme must grasp in you restraint
Or best, resist the splurge—
TO WEST SIDE JIM
Valerie Esker
I remember the meadow down
Hazelwood
where we once played tag on the hill.
I can still hear the far-away whistle blow
where our daddies worked hard at the mill.
I see visions of tall
wild-flower grasses,
windy acres of white Queen Anne's Lace.
When summer's coming suspended school classes,
quick to the meadows we'd race.
Now, ripe wild-berry hunts
fill my day-dreams:
they once filled my mouth with sweet bliss.
Old memories grow more poignant it seems . . .
remember our first meadow kiss?
LADIES HOME COMPANION
Bev Conklin
I think that I appreciate
you most
on the long, dark winter nights
when sleep retreats before a host
of thoughts and fears, whirling in bytes
of pictures, sounds and memories.
You seem to silently sense
my need
for a living "someone" to touch.
So up you jump and start to knead
my thighs, discerniing how much
you mean to one who lives alone.
Turning round and round,
you settle down,
a lovely lapful of purring fur.
You soothe away my worried frown
and let me pet with never a stir,
allowing sleep to once again return.
EVERY NEED
Jean Even
Reach out to the Lord with prayer above,
In all things, seek Him for His bountiful love.
Ah, even still the wee babes trust in Him,
For every need until they grow old and dim
Into the fading light of life’s day.
Hold on to what you have in God’s holy love.
There is nothing else in this earthly grove.
Life is more than things that are rotting away.
Temporal persuasions in solid sway.
In time they won’t last through out the days.
Call to God in heaven’s glory above.
His blessings in love is given by a dove,
With wisdom beyond the knowledge of men,
Is peace to sustain and not just with a pen;
A treasure to hold in heaven’s days.
A WAY OF LIFE
Tania Gray
Tofu and nuts of Macadamia
Zucchini, mushrooms, fish, and chicken breast
Are staples in my fridge and shelf this year.
I'm in the Zone, and more religiously,
The Zone is mostly soy. How good am I
To eat egg substitutes, to carry tea
In thermos for my morning snack, to chop
And mince and dice and process vegetables
Early enough to leave at seven a.m.
My lunch is hummus with raw carrot sticks.
My dinner's low-fat flounder baked in foil.
I'm feeling fine, my clothes are getting loose,
I'm sassy and deserving of a treat:
I'll polish off this day with apple pie.
NIGHT SOUNDS
Pat Laster
Agreed electric bill was out of sight,
we turned the AC thermostat to “off.”
Dad jiggled open logy windows. Light
revealed a host of insects in the trough.
We wouldn’t melt at eighty-five degrees,
and cricket choirs outside shoved years away.
I’m back at
Grandma’s house. To find a breeze,
I move to foot of
bed, prop face to stay
at window’s angle. . . .
"Mom, did you hear
that?
It must be owls.” I lay there smiling, smug.
“Ajooga! ‘Jooga!” bugs intoned. The chat
of front-porched neighbors calmed us like a drug.
While sanded edge of summer sounds
unspooled,
the thread of sleepiness wound softly, cooled.
VISIT WORKSHOP FOR AN
ASSIGNMENT.
[Answer to riddle
at top of column=A mole]
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