Wednesday, August 31, 2016

70s

Seventies

I remember platform shoes,
walking a good six inches from the earth
experiencing what it’s like to be tall
stooping to get a drink from the fountain
traveling a long way down to take a seat
having a good view at a football game.
I lost my platform shoes and mood ring
through the years, but I still have my lava lamp. 

Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Faith

When I am Weak, He is Strong

When man’s faith and God’s power entwines
All things are possible, the good ones at least
His answers break through like the glorious sun
Reaches down and slays the loathsome beast

Determination and perseverance, a plus
United with Holy God’s desire to love
Sets off an explosion of divine power
And blessings flood the earth from above

A person, weak and frail, yet brave
Walks hand in hand with the mighty One
Exploring vast possibilities
Until his temporal life is done 

Monday, August 29, 2016

PA Bigger 29

As a young child
I felt so proud to be big
But now that I’m older
Being big
Makes me feel like a pig

Sunday, August 28, 2016

PA Bigger

Charlie’s Pride

Charlie the oak by our house
was the biggest tree in the yard
until the pine trees grew bigger.
Now Charlie stands among peers.
So remember, a reason to be proud
may not remain when others grow.
Let’s just stand tall in gratefulness. 

Saturday, August 27, 2016

Poetic Asides Distance

The Sardine Express

We traveled the two-thousand miles
In a small car, two kids and I
From Colorado we’d begin
Yes, it’s true, we didn’t fly

We’d pray for weather to be nice
And that we’d surely stay alive
It seemed to take forever then
Speed limit only fifty-five

I’d say, “This could be good or bad.”
Depending if you play or fight
So over mountains to Cheyenne
And we’ll see Grandma P. tonight.”

So we’d stay there a day or two
And visit many in-laws there
One morning, we’d be on our way
Off to Nebraska with a prayer

Two sisters, husbands and their kids
Made eastern Nebraska their home
So we’d stay there a week or so
Then to Pennsylvania we’d roam

One sister and two kids piled in
We’d go a thousand miles, no less
Our kids were packed in back so tight
We called it The Sardine Express

And we would spend a week or two
We’d visit grandparents, and kin
It always seemed no time at all
To drive the whole way home again

Every year we would make that trip
How many, would be just a guess
We miss grandparents very much
But not so, the Sardine Express


Friday, August 26, 2016

Poetic Asides One word attention getter

Look!

You didn’t expect it
But there it is
Right in front of you
Daring you to dream
And see what pops up next.

Thursday, August 25, 2016

PB 31 Sundown

Sundown

The pink glow
Announces the day’s end
Sighing

The cool breeze
Soothes, calms
Relaxing

The night rain
Taps out a lullaby
Lulling

The fresh fragrance
Massages the spirit
Reassuring

I go to bed in peace
With fresh mint
Lingering 

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

PB 30 Summer Storm

Summer Storm

The day she came to visit her sister,
it rained harder than I’d ever seen it rain
in southwest Colorado. The streets were rivers.
The parks and fields, lakes.
It came down like it would never quit.
It seems strange when two rare events
happen on the same day. 

Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Day 29 Somethingville

Poetryville 

Wasting away in Poetryville
Looking for my lost fickle muse
Rhythm and Rhyme are in hiding
Singing the poetry blues

Wasting away in Poetryville
While summer fun goes on around me
The land of diction, meter and feet
Have somehow trapped and bound me

Wasting away in Poetryville
Where figurative language is king
Time ticks away on the face of the clock
Till my muse returns and takes wing

Monday, August 22, 2016

PB 28 Place

New Florence, PA

I grew up in a tree-filled valley
and New Florence, “down street,”
was about a mile down Shannon Creek Road
and over Town Hill. Population 1,000.
Most of the houses were white
with “New Florence green” porches.
There were a few basic churches
and two gas stations.

The Dairy Nook where
we kids sat in the booth and left spoons
balanced on the edges of hot chocolate cups.
Or we’d go to the drugstore where
we liked to sit at the only booth
and order ice cream for fifteen cents.
The table underside was dotted with gum.

Deranaldo’s where you could actually buy clothes.
The bank with the drinking fountain in front
where the do-nothings hung out.
A small grocery store called “Pecks”
where old guys and some young
played pinball and drank coffee.

Across the street, Trimble’s,
another grocery store with a wooden floor.
The post office had a bulletin board
to post the town going-ons.
It was usually empty.
Kavinaughs, a little hardware store,
where they also sold vegetables out front.

Down past the “subway”
which was really an underpass
for the train tracks on top,
a feed mill sat so long
it looked like the wind would blow it over.
Kenneth’s Funeral Home and the library.

Two brick schools--an old red one where my Dad had attended
before my Grandpa sent him out to the country school
because the town teacher had it out
for the rascally red-haired boy.
The newer yellow one was where I went.

New Florence doesn’t look like that anymore.
They say they even have an Arby’s and a Dollar Store.
The fountain still works but no one stands there.
The Drugstore, Deranaldo’s, Dairy Nook, Peck’s,
Trimble’s, the gas stations, the schools, they’re all gone.
Most of the houses are still white
with New Florence green porches.





Sunday, August 21, 2016

PB 27 summer colors

Green with Envy

Lime bikini
Olive skin
Emerald eyes

I may be a bit jaded
But with an avocado figure
I look tacky in my khakis. 

Saturday, August 20, 2016

PB 26 similes and metaphors

Mountain Hike

Like moles we crawl out in darkness to beat the heat.
We ascend the mountains like goats looking for pasture.
By the time we get to the switchbacks
we’re moving like sloths, very tired sloths.
We arrive at the lake
and lie on the grass like beached whales.
We gulp down our lunches like starving dogs.
Then we slowly rise like lazy cats
reluctantly ending their naps.
Then we shuffle down like migrating penguins.
Finally, in the truck, our muscles screech like owls.

Friday, August 19, 2016

Thursday, August 18, 2016

PB 24 peaceful summer day

Peaceful Summer Day

Sagging in a hammock
Like a baby in a womb.
Listening to a rushing creek
Gurgle out its tune.

Sweet and sour lemonade
Flowing past my tongue.
Dreaming of some sunny days
When I was oh so young.

Reading a romance book
I’ve already read.
And then reaching over,
I fall upon my head.

Wednesday, August 17, 2016

PA flight

A Lesson in Trust

We flew over red ridges of Utah,
with the thin sheet of metal
of our Volkswagen-bug-like plane
separating us from two-thousand feet of air.

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

PB 23 Work made me miss

Host Home Client at Niece’s Wedding

We usually keep him from these events,
because he wanders and makes noise.
But since it was in a barn on a June day,
we sat in the back near an open door.
Distracted by keeping our man calm,
I missed that moment when the groom
sees his bride coming down the aisle
and when they share their first married kiss.
Those are the best parts of a wedding,
And I missed them.

Monday, August 15, 2016

PB 22 Memories

Summer Memories

Bare foot we’d run through
green grass, over stones,
tarry roads and clover with bees.

We’d find a green branch,
carve the tip with a pocket knife
and build a campfire.

It was time for a neighborhood wiener roast,
when aunts, uncles, cousins, friends
would bring all the fixings.

After eating hotdogs, hamburgers, etcetera,
we’d still have room for watermelon
and have a seed spitting contest.

When the fireflies came out,
we’d roast marshmallows black,
and sing around the campfire.

These memories knit us together,
even when we’re now far apart.

Sunday, August 14, 2016

PB 21 Summer love

Summer Romance

There’s nothing terribly romantic
about Cheyenne, Wyoming.
No moonlit walks along the beach,
rowboat rides, or violins playing.
But when I looked at you,
I saw the future.

Saturday, August 13, 2016

PB #20 communication about the end or beginning of something PA uncontrollable

Summer’s End

“The summer’s nearly at its end.”
“You hush your mouth about that, please.”
“I must be honest as a friend.”
“I’m begging you upon my knees.”
“I’m sorry I just like to tease.”
“You know that I’m adverse to snow.”
“We have some time till cold winds blow.”
“You’re right, the falls are nice and cool.”
“Just think, we will not have to mow.”
“But then we must go back to school.”

Friday, August 12, 2016

PB 19 Picnic

Picnic

P lease, pass the potato salad, chicken, chips…
I can eat no more, my belly’s full.
C an we just sit a while, laugh and reminisce?
N ow that we can move again, let’s have fun!
I like badminton, boating, biking and hiking.
C an we do this next week, not wait till next year?

Thursday, August 11, 2016

PB 18 Beach Boys

Good Vibrations

I was attracted to him for two years
But wouldn’t admit it to myself
Since he was my boyfriend’s best friend

But after four years of going together
Our relationship finally faded
And one night in their college dorm room

The lights were low
We danced to the music
And I was picking up good vibrations

We dated for five months
Then I went to Wyoming
Met my future husband

Some things aren’t meant to be
Good vibrations or not



Wednesday, August 10, 2016

PB Day 17 quotes

“Summer's lease hath all too short a date.” 
 
William Shakespeare, Shakespeare's Sonnets

In Colorado, we wait forever for summer
Then in a blink the aspen leaves turn gold
And the wind whispers winter threats

Tuesday, August 9, 2016

PB 16

Magic Summers

M agical summers of childhood filled with
A stonishing secrets of nature. Crickets singing, peep frogs leaping,
G rass beckoning to bare feet, dreamlike fireflies giving the
I llusion of fairies flitting through the night, mysterious
C harm of trees bowed over foot paths creating a secret tunnel to my aunt’s cottage,

S parkle of dewdrops on violets and buttercups
U nder shady maples, delightful feel of bare feet in moss,
M agnetism of a bubbling creek beckoning to reveal its
M ysteries: crawdads scuttling under rocks, minnows scurrying, leaf boats floating by.
E nchanted woods, hills, creeks captivating kids. I
R emember the magic my country neighborhood held for friends and cousins.
S ummers filled with discoveries, adventures, and fun.

Monday, August 8, 2016

PB 15

Pink light glows
Morning magic stirs
Shadows change
Transforming
To trees, rocks, houses, bushes
Until sunset’s spell

Sunday, August 7, 2016

PB 14 Summer Lesson

Yard Sale

Preparing to move that summer,
we had a yard sale.
We kept the house open
to sell larger items.
While selling a sofa to a neighbor
a young man walked in and asked
about the guitar behind the door.
“It’s not for sale,” I said.
“My husband wouldn’t part with it.”
I was called outside then.
I gave it no thought until after we moved
and my husband couldn’t find
his pride and joy,
his Fender fretless bass guitar.
The last we remembered seeing it,
was behind the door.
I learned something that summer.


Saturday, August 6, 2016

PB 13 Pantoum - Hot Fun in the Summertime

Summers in Phoenix

A little toasty, I admit
Though Arizona is quite dry
One hundred twenty and a bit
It’s good when you have eggs to fry

Though Arizona is quite dry
The sidewalks sizzle in the heat
It’s good when you have eggs to fry
That type of cooking can’t be beat

The sidewalks sizzle in the heat
Sun bathers slap the sun screen on
That type of cooking can’t be beat
Like breakfast toast, they’re golden brown

Sun bathers slap the sun screen on
But they’d be smart to stay inside
Like breakfast toast, they’re golden brown
But shriveled like a grape that’s dried

But they’d be smart to stay inside
The largest organ is the skin
But shriveled like a grape that’s dried
So protect it now and stay within

The largest organ is the skin
Drink lots of water and stay cool
So protect it now and stay within
It’s hot outside, don’t be a fool.

Drink lots of water and stay cool
It’s VERY toasty, I admit
It’s hot outside, don’t be a fool
One hundred twenty and a bit




Friday, August 5, 2016

PB 12 Memories

Childhood Summers

When I was a kid, my country neighborhood
reverberated with noises of barefoot children
running over green grass,
tarred and graveled roads,
through rocky cold-water creeks,
and even pine-needled woods,

playing all kinds of ball, badminton, croquet,
Hide and Seek, Sardines, Statue,
Little Red House on the Hill,
Hopscotch, jump rope, and Four Square,
pretend games of house, submarine, space ship
and Gilligan’s Island and Man from UNCLE,

riding bikes and the flying jenny,
building dams in the creek, roller skating,
flinging crab apples on flexible sticks,
swinging on swings and vines,
rolling down hills in cardboard boxes
and inside tractor tires, walking on stilts,

sharing a watermelon at Pappaps
and spitting seeds at each other,
licking popsicles on a 90 degree day,
snacking on plums, apples, grapes,
elderberries, and blackberries
right off the tree or bush.

Looking back on it reminds me
to keep “having fun” on my to-do list.

Thursday, August 4, 2016

PB 11 summer phrases

The Lazy Days of Summer

Shoes-anathema   
Children, kissed by the sun,
run through water sprinklers.
Flowers dance in colorful dress.
Trees, green and full,
breathe out life as a gift.
Birds full-throttle perform their tunes.

Indoors for only sleeping and eating,
but not always.
Sleep under the stars
while owls and crickets
sing their lullabies,
and lightning bugs act
as comforting nightlights. 

Wednesday, August 3, 2016

PB 10 Moon

Moonlight’s Music in the Mountains

The moon painted the scene hazy blue
The mountains silhouette lent mystery
Setting a romantic, magical mood
Making their own harmony and melody
Music heard in hearts of lovers

Tuesday, August 2, 2016

PB 9 summer clouds

Summer Clouds

Strings of pearls
Bouquets of roses
Wings of angels

Wispy
Fluffy
Flitting

Pictures of praise
To His Essence
His Holiness

Monday, August 1, 2016

PB 8 That Summer In...

That Summer in Cheyenne

I met you there one summer night
A gospel group performed at church
Your solo clapping caught my sight
When others had all quenched the urge

The pastor introduced me to
Some P-A friends of yours that day
I didn’t have one single clue
I’d meet my groom-to-be that way

The fun I had that summer there
Could fill a thick, expansive book
No other summer would compare
To Pennsylvania I went back

Wyoming soon became my home
Great things can happen when you roam