The last poem of 2025 in the Deadlines for Writers group is due today. The prompt was "underneath." My thought chain started there and made a long and winding journey before arriving at this poem. 

Lessons from the Aged

Thriving on Earth for eighty-four years

Is no small accomplishment, Friend.

Lessons  learned through blood, sweat, and tears

I’ll share as I reach life’s back end.

 

First lesson, now listen closely to this:

Value those who stick by your side:

Possessions will never bring any bliss.

Relationship’s where real joy abides.

 

Another truth to hold onto, I’ve learned,

Is that happiness comes from within.

Some folks won’t like you, but don’t be concerned;

Validation from others is thin.

 

You can’t control everything, much as you try;

Others will do what they will.

Peace and contentment will come by and by

If you let go, let God, and be still.

 

Kindness lasts. Comparison steals,

Money’s a tool, not the goal.

Gratitude’s what makes living real;

Be grateful down deep in your soul.

 

Grateful for every friendship and smile.

Grateful for even the strife.

Grateful you get to travel each mile.

Be grateful. Be gracious. Live Life!

Measuring Time: A Cinquain

The Ninth poem (the prompt was "measured") is due today. I submitted a double Cinquain. The American cinquain is an unrhymed, five-line poetic form defined by the number of syllables in each line—the first line has two syllables, the second has four, the third six, the fourth eight, and the fifth two (2-4-6-8-2). They are typically written using iambs.

Measuring Time: a double Cinquain

One life

Don’t waste time with

Was yesterday the best?

Will tomorrow fulfill my dreams?

Tick Tock.

 

Today!

‘Time’ doesn’t pass.

We ourselves pass through time.

Be fully present for each “tick.”

Spend time!

DFW Poem 202506 Like

 Here's my 202506 entry in the Deadlines for Writers Poetry Group using the prompt "like." It's a simple 4X4 rhyming ditty.

Behind every “like” on your media page

Is a purpose, apparent or not.

Is the like for the content of the message you shared

Or simply a way to say you’ve been got?

 

Did he like the picture, the message, the theme?

Did she like what the commenters said?

I like you, I hear you, I support you, my friend.

Let’s raise our shared past from the dead?

 

I agree with your political point, my friend.

My like might sway some to our point of view.

My “like” is a bullet I can fire at will

In the culture wars we’ve been conscripted into. 

 

A like is not simply a like these days

It can be many things in addition.

Enjoy the likes you get on your post,

And consider the liker’s intention. 

Sea Treasure

I am beginning my 6th year of monthly poems. Poem #1 of 2025 is due today. The prompt is "Shell." I have written a free verse poem. 

 

Sea Treasure

Locked in space and time.

I stroll the quiet shore.

Sand between my toes,

Infinity on the horizon.

 

Glancing down I see

A long-forsaken castle

Holding forgotten stories

In its nooks and swirls.

 

I bend and gently take Eternity into my hands.

The time-lock broken,

The pearly jewels of generations,

Glitter in the gentle grace of spiral lines.

 

The space-lock shattered,

The music of the deep

Whispers peace

As I hold the fragile treasure to my ear.

Ode to the Human Spirit: a Sonnet

 Poem #11 of 2024 is due today. The prompt is "taste." I began to write reflecting on a quote by Leonardo DaVinci. 

“An average human looks without seeing, listens without hearing, touches without feeling, eats without tasting, moves without physical awareness, inhales without awareness of odour or fragrance, and talks without thinking.” 

Ode to the Human Spirit – A Sonnet

 

As life moves on from day to day to day

We mortal beings sometimes lose our way.

We look around yet somehow fail to see

The beauty and the grace in you and me.

 

We listen to divergent surface sounds

And do not hear the need in those around.

We touch and know the outer shapes of life

Not feeling others’ needs, and aches, and strife.

 

We sample this or that but do not taste -

The present moment’s flavor gone to waste.

We sniff the air but do not smell the rose

We miss the poem and only breathe the prose.

 

Let’s not forget that many a wrong is wrought

When words are spent before engaging THOUGHT. 

2023 Men

One of the things that has filled my mind since Sunday’s big family event (The wedding of AnnaGrace Turrentine and Zachary Harper) is a new appreciation of men.

I’ve been blessed with so many outstanding men in my life - beginning with my own father, grandfather, and uncles and going up through all the men (old and young) I watched Sunday demonstrating what Godly manhood and masculinity means. It is not easy to be a man in 2023. Their inborn nature is being disparaged by much of society. They are being pressured to ignore their natural and admirable tendency to provide for and protect those around them.

Before the wedding I saw the beautiful young bride, our granddaughter, reach around the door to hold hands with her handsome groom without visual connection. They were surrounded by some of the most important men in their lives. These men were there because of their love for the young couple, because of their sense of responsibility to the young couple, by their need to provide a new generation with their life experience of our human need for God's love in our relationships. They were there to pray for the couple's impending marriage.

The Groom's father - a Baptist pastor, married for over 30 years

The Bride's father - A Baptist deacon and Bible teacher, married for over 30 years

The Groom's uncle - a Baptist pastor, married for more than 30 years.

The Bride's maternal grandfather - A Baptist pastor, married for 58 years.

The Bride's paternal grandfather - A Methodist pastor, married for 59 3/4 years.

It was a holy moment.

As the prayers ended, I turned to look at the yard and saw a line of 12 tuxedoed men and one tuxedoed little boy being photographed: The Groom, his 11 attendants, and the child attendant tasked with preceding the Bride down the aisle blowing bubbles. That little boy is my great grandson; five of the groomsmen are my grandsons; the groom will be my grandson at the end of the ceremony. My son, who is also the father of the bride and tuxedoed as well, was standing just off-camera ready to help corral the active bubble-boy, his grandson. I was looking at 14 more amazing specimens of GOOD and admirable masculinity!

Side Note: Most of the women in the lives of the couple had taken care of the details to make the wedding meaningful and beautiful. They had planned, decorated, cooked, advised, dressed, combed, made up... I will probably write later about their importance and their many contributions to the day as well as to our lives.

The Love and the Gift of Christmas

Christmas is so often misunderstood in our society. People, even those in the church, sing about JOY and GIFTS without realizing what true joy is or what the real gift of Christmas is. In this morning's readings, I read this truth. #TruthMatters

"authentic joy ...fills the heart freed from sin. Sin carries a sadness with it that leads us to close ourselves up within ourselves. Grace brings with it the true joy that does not depend on having things but is rather rooted in the most intimate, deepest part of the person, and that nothing and nobody can take away...Christianity is the proclamation of the victory of grace over sin, of life over death. . . .It is necessary therefore to learn to say no to the voice of egoism and to say yes to the voice of authentic love." Peter M.J. Stravinskas

So the JOY of Christmas is the freedom to be truly ourselves without the burden of sin - this freedom is ours because of the GIFT of God's grace in providing us a way out of our sin and the heaviness it has put into our lives. I hope and pray that each of us will truly receive the GIFT of God's grace into our lives so that we can experience the true JOY of the season.

 The August assignment in the Deadline for Writers group was to write a poem about Freedom. This is my submission. It was inspired by "Freedom's Plow" by Langston Hughes. 

The Tree of Freedom

 

Labor-worn, I seek respite for my weary soul beneath a towering oak.

Its branches deflect the heat of the waning sun

And gentle breezes cool and renew my body. 

This peaceful sanctuary,

though a gift for me,

stands rooted in the toil of ages past.

 

Long ago, wishing only to live together in peace,

An enslaved people,

yoked together in this common cause,

Gathered the scattered seeds of freedom,

Turned their backs on ease,

and set their hands to the plow.

 

Furrow by furrow,

 the rocky hills gave way to their will.

They fed the soil with gritty virtue

and hidden tears.

When strength failed,

resolve alone bent their backs to the task;

As, furrow by furrow,

they dropped the seeds of respect and love.

 

Across the field of history, other laborers sprinkled the water of truth.

While the sun of knowledge shone on the growing seedling,

The calming peace of order held its roots secure and directed it ever heavenward;

‘til standing tall, Freedom spread her branches wide,

inviting me;

 welcoming you;

sheltering all.

 

 Yet, we who rest in her shade dare not rest too long;

freedom’s tree needs tending still.

Generations yet to be will climb this hill seeking to be free.

Ever vigilant,

we must pledge to guard each person’s right to life.

Never flagging,

we must assure each person can speak his thoughts.

 

Shield, come what may, Freedom’s tree

from the drought of self and

the plague of comfort, security, and peace too dearly prized.

Preserve and enlarge, at any cost, this flowering freedom

‘Til every man can live as he will

in a land of beauty, love and liberty.

Opinions and Social Media

In times like these it is important to remember anyone's Facebook post is the equivalent of an individual comment during an old-fashioned conversation. In a conversation, everybody chimes in about what they've heard, what they think about what they've heard, what they've read and what they think about what they've read. Some people's comments are more likely to be accurate that other people's comments simply by the difference in personality.

We have all learned through life experience to make an internal evaluation of things we hear in conversation. The same is true of a Facebook conversation. We don't believe everything we hear. We value some opinions more than others based on experience with the person making the comment. Some comments you respond to with a smile - which can indicate dismissal or simply acknowledgment of the person if not the actual comment; some comments require your assenting or dissenting response. Some comments are so off the wall that you just look around and direct your attention another way to another conversation.

Some people, inexplicably, misunderstand benign comments and assume malicious intent; some have a hidden agenda behind every comment; some enjoy introducing controversy; but I believe that most of us simply want to share ideas with our fellow human beings. It's what people do. We understand our world through mulling various viewpoints and bits of information. Without accompanying facial expressions and bodily gestures, that communication can be clumsy and less than effective.

It is important, IMHO, that we, as mature adults, give the benefit of the doubt to others, loving them as brothers and sisters even when we disagree with what they say or when we believe that they hold ill feelings toward us for something we have said.

Sorry. Too much on this topic. It just bothers me to see strained relationships over simple miscommunications. Through social media, we are witness to more relationship stresses than we had been before the advent of this technology.

9/11/2019

For almost 3000 Americans, 9/11/01 was simply a regular day. Some went to work expecting a routine workday. Some went to the airport in order to meet a business need or celebrate a family occasion. Some were keeping a routine appointment of some kind. Some were taken there in their mother's/father's arms to be cared for while their parents worked. All of them left home that morning not knowing that they had seen their loved ones for the last time. Their lives were needlessly taken away because of the evil plans of other people - and because of the action those perpetrators took based on WHAT THEY BELIEVED.

Don't tell me "It doesn't matter what you believe as long as you believe it sincerely." That is a HUGE fallacy. It DOES matter what you believe. It DOES matter when you believe that YOU should determine how others should live their lives or meet their deaths. It DOES matter when people allow some organization (be it the government or some religious/social hierarchy) to legislate their personal choices. God bless the thousands of His children whose lives were lost and the tens of thousands of His children who were negatively impacted that day because of the mistaken, but strongly held, beliefs of a few other people.

God give us the wisdom to use the lessons learned from that terrible day to build a kinder, gentler society. God give us the strength to resist evil in whatever form it presents itself.

Self-Identity and Affirmation

I am not an animal lover. There, I said it!  Let the stoning begin. I have ALWAYS felt like I am primarily a people lover. Believe me, few people in my life or in society as a whole are anxious to “affirm” my identity. Everyone tries to convert me into being who I am not - an animal lover. Few people in my life or in society as a whole make any accommodations for me on the street, in stores, or anywhere else. Most people allow their animals to enter my personal space, sniff me, and otherwise demand attention - on walking trails, on the street, and in general social settings. I must exist alongside animals in most venues I encounter in my daily life - even family gatherings, public festivals, etc. Believe me, I experience private AND public censure for who I am. In this day of “Love wins” and “trans”-everything and accepting every individual for who they know in their hearts they truly are, there is still censure for many unchampioned people in our world. If you don’t believe this, be honest. What have YOU been thinking as you read this? How has your opinion of me changed?  

But there is also this: You know what?  I’m an adult. I understand that we all have our peculiarities and our own set of life circumstances. I don’t expect anyone else to make accommodations for me. I understand that my problems aren’t yours (or society’s) to solve. I have, and will continue to have, satisfying and successful relationships with many people who do not share this characteristic with me. I will not demand that everyone else be forbidden to walk their dogs in my vicinity or put their pets away when I visit. It is up to ME to monitor/limit  my contact with animals. It’s not your problem. I will not ridicule or exclude those who talk about their pets endlessly or occasionally put me in uncomfortable situations with their animals. That’s life. We are all different. I am tired of groups of people who want the entire world to accommodate their individual peculiarities. What a miserable existence we would endure if we were all the same!!

Reading, Reviewing, and Ruminating

Nobody likes for others to cut in front of them in line. Nobody likes those that get promoted ahead of them at work through deceit and/or false documentation. Who doesn’t resent that lazy kid who gets a A just because his/her parent terrorizes the school and teachers — while his/her hard-working classmates get the grades they earned? Who likes to sit on the bench while the kid who missed most of the practices carries the ball? Nothing hurts morale and destroys a sense of togetherness more than such unfair situations. 

Unity, morale, progress, civility- 

(1) For the individual, these come from one’s personal moral standards. (2) On a relationship and small-group level, these come from mutual respect and mutually-established “rules of engagement” or stated regulations. (3) on a national level, unity, morale, progress, and civility are achieved by universal adherence to legally-made regulations (laws) and established common goals (a constitution.)

I think this explains (at least partially) the low morale, disunity, and incivility in current American society.  It is fundamentally “unfair” to establish sanctuary cities to protect lawbreakers, to provide freebies for some while others have to work and pay for the “free” stuff that others enjoy, to give rewards to those who break the law (illegal immigrants with voting rights, etc.) 

Just reading, reviewing, and ruminating this morning...

Forum on manhood misses the mark

Columnist Jim Wooten recently wrote a commentary about a March conference held at Macon State College. The conference was ostensibly "a conversation about manhood" and was led by a group of black professionals such as doctors, teachers, lawyers, clergypersons, and politicians. Mr. Wooten's comments were based on a report in The Macon Telegraph written by reporter, Ashley Tusan Joyner, in which she details some of the topics discussed in the conference. Go to the link above for Mr. Wooten's full article; I found the comments below especially interesting.

But it is shocking to read that given the opportunity to have a conversation about manhood with young males, role models who are successful and accomplished in life chose to talk to them as potential criminals and as victims....

Not addressed, apparently, was manhood, as in fatherhood. Or manhood, as in taking responsibility... The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in early March that at least one in four teenage girls nationally has a sexually transmitted disease. Among black teens ages 14-19, it’s nearly half.

Another study released last week offers findings that are...further evidence of the need to reorient the conversation. ... 25 percent of white children, 46 percent of Hispanics and 69 percent of blacks are born to unmarried women....When combined with divorce... almost a third of children live in single-parent homes...

Any number of studies have documented the harm to children and the social costs in higher rates of crime, drug abuse, poverty, mental and physical illnesses, educational failures, and other damaging consequences to children deprived of the life-guiding influence of both parents.

Now Benjamin Scafidi, an economist in the J. Whitney Bunting School of Business at Georgia College & State University in Milledgeville, presents valuable new research on the economic costs. “We estimate that family fragmentation costs U.S. taxpayers at least $112 billion each and every year, or more than $1 trillion each decade,”..... If public policies encouraging marriage reduced family fragmentation by just 1 percent, the savings to taxpayers would amount to $1.1 billion yearly, the study finds.

It seems clear that the conversation about what constitutes “manhood” needs to change, especially when the government, the media, opinion leaders and community role models gather young men to help them define it. Manliness is not creating and abandoning babies and the women who bear them.

Leah Ward Sears, chief justice of the Georgia Supreme Court, is one of the voices stepping up...

“Healthy marriage is not only the best place to raise children, it is the indispensable institution without which all other social reform efforts will fail,” she said. “Healthy and intact families are the cradle of thriving societies.” Preach that. Teach that. Counsel that.

Respect and Civility in Blogging and in Life

I read a post at Blue Star Chronicles this morning. It pushed my buttons and required a response. BSC’s owner is currently out of the country for her soldier son’s wedding (Happy Wedding Day, Joshua and Michaela!) In Beth's absence, Pick Up the Pen’s author, Ed, crossposted on his site and on BSC a good discussion of civility, blogging, and Christmas.

In case you don’t have time or the inclination to go to one of these good spots to read the entire dissertation, here are a few edited and condensed nuggets containing the essence of the sentiment.

In this world it is hard to express an opinion without drawing the fire of someone who disagrees, and very often that disagreement is expressed bluntly by a hateful attack upon the writer - rants of screaming derision, slander, pomposity and arrogance, hateful attitudes that are all way too common in today’s world. Apparently the weapon of choice for these intellects is the blunt instrument of hot, turgid rhetoric.

When did we lose the ability to have a civil conversation of disagreement? Today there is little requirement for politeness, no respect for the opinions of strangers. Civility, which used to be the presumption, is on a losing streak. If we are to regain our civility, we must, as a species and as a society, learn to tolerate our differences. Toleration is not the same as liking something or agreeing with everybody. It is simply toleration. It is living with an idea that you might not choose to think or an action that you might not take yourself. Toleration does not mean anarchy or lawlessness, but rather it is the hallmark of a civil society. Civil society demands politeness, kindness and respect in all things. Face to face it is so much easier to be friendly, but behind the anonymity of the internet it is so much easier to not be civil and friendly. When looking someone in the eye it is much harder to differentiate, to hate, to accuse, to belittle, and to defame him.

Taking the high road always means a climb uphill, but the view is superior. So while you are out shopping this Christmas season listening to the carols or enjoying the company of officemates, or friends and family, even a stranger for that matter look into their eyes and pay attention to what you see.

Merry Christmas Eve Eve! And Happy Winter Solstice today!

Three Word Wednesday - My Edition #2

Welcome to Three Word Wednesday. Each week, Bone, at If You Only Read One Blog This Year..., posts three (or more) random words. Those who participate try to write something using all of those words. It can be a few lines, a story, a poem, anything. If you decide to join us for this writing exercise, go to Bone's blog and comment and let us know you have done the 3WW, and we'll come visit! This week's words are:

• packed
• cozy
• anticipation

My attempt this week is a short vignette.

The theatre was packed as we edged past knees and over feet excusing ourselves slowly toward our reserved seats.

"Excuse me. Excuse me. I'm sorry. Thank you."

Sighing deeply when we reached our seats, we settled in and began scanning the printed program.

Although this would be our sixth journey through "The Phantom of the Opera", the anticipation was building. Each producer and director finds new ways to cast the performance. Each stage crew emphasizes different parts of the settings and finds unique creative expression in the use of special effects. Each Phantom's voice offers something others did not. Each Christine reacts in her own style to the events of the drama. "The Phantom of the Opera" is never the same musical performance twice!

As the lights dimmed for the beginning of the performance, I leaned into the cozy warmth of my husband's shoulder and whispered, "I am so glad to be in the audience this time, aren't you, my dear? Someone else is having the butterflies tonight; we are no longer the Phantom and Christine. Let's just 'listen to the music of the night.'"

Wacky Wednesday #9

I used to think I was poor.

Then they told me I wasn't poor, I was needy.

Then they told me it was self-defeating to think of myself as needy, I was deprived.

Then they told me deprived was a bad image, I was underprivileged.

Then they told me underprivileged was overused, I was disadvantaged.

I still don't have a dime.

But I sure have a great vocabulary.

.......Jules Feiffer

Sunday Seven (6th Edition)

Sunday Seven is a weekly meme for giving thanks and/or for noting important events in our lives.

1. We used yellow daisies in our wedding almost 44 years ago. Of course, I thought of that when I saw this Sunday Seven Header. I am thankful for the security and joy of a long-lasting marriage. Monday will be my DH's birthday. He has had some health problems in the last 5 years, and I am very thankful we are still able be together.

2. We had a "Destination Unknown" day with our son's three children Friday. Their parents had to work, and the children were out of school. After I called the children and told them we were planning a destination unknown event, we had a lot of trouble getting an itinerary set up. Six Flags didn't open until Saturday; Lake Winnie (in Chattanooga) doesn't open until April; the Booth Cowboy museum (in Cartersville) was having a special event for the weekend but nothing for kids until Saturday; Stone Mountain and both the Aquariums (Atlanta and Chattanooga) were too far away, since Raye had a soccer game at 4:30. So we discarded plans A, B, C, D, E, and F, and settled on plan G. We had a marvelous time though. See numbers 3-5.

3. We visited the Martha Berry Museum and found it fascinating.

Since parts of the movie "Sweet Home Alabama" were filmed there, we enjoyed recognizing spots from the movie. The gardens were being renovated, but they were beautiful even in their current sparse condition. Our tour guide was very personable and made each part of her explanation meaningful to the children. The little play house where Martha Berry started her school by informally teaching Bible stories was especially interesting. We wished we had more time to walk the "Walkway of Life." Large engraved stones were placed at intervals along the wooded pathway. Each stone told something of importance about Ms Berry. The first one was "Prayer Changes Things", her lifelong motto. The second one read "Not to be ministered unto, but to minister." We were out of time for any further walking. After we left there, we had a Mexican lunch and then went bowling.

4. for our last scheduled activity of the day, we gave the three children a gift-shopping challenge. We went into Kmart, gave each child only $5, and told them to come to the cash registers within 15 minutes. During that fifteen minutes, without consulting with the gift recipient, Doc was to buy a gift for Aggie, Aggie was to buy a gift for Raye, and Raye was to buy a gift for Doc. They were to try to have some money left over which we would pool and buy something for their parents. As it turned out, they had $5 left between them at the end of the fifteen minutes, but we were out of time and didn't get to shop for their parents. They splint the "remnants" equally.

5. All three of these children (who often bicker and pick at each other like most siblings do) accepted their gifts with genuine appreciation, and each one seemed to enjoy buying something for the brother or sister. Raye even donated a $1 of her money at the cash register to the Children's Miracle Network. Doc bought Aggie a kit to make a doorhanger for her room; Raye bought Doc a tube of tennis balls; and Aggie bought Raye a poster making kit and a large pack of her favorite gum. I thought that they made some good choices.

6. My new dentist had a cancellation and was able to go ahead and put in my temporary crown Thursday. What a relief not to have to feel that ragged tooth until March 28 (the original appointment date for the work.) Now I can get the permanent crown put on March 27!

7. Our spring weather has been wonderful this week. At this time of year in the morning we can see the water glistening on the lake behind the houses across the street. It is so beautiful! In the summer the leaves are too dense to see the lake beyond. Being outdoors is invigorating, too. I enjoy the freedom and brightness of Spring!