National Poetry Month #25

All

all he would have to say is,
remember the time I came home
with a beard and Dad didn’t know me,
and we would all laugh,
Mom would say, just by your voice,
I knew your voice, and my sister
would say, the dog kept barking, and
I would say, that was the
summer I got a camera.
it pulls around us
like a drawstring, that time,
when we come together,
awkward and older,
our frayed conversations
trying to thread some memory
of each other,
one of us will only have to say,
remember the time you came home
from the bush with your beard,
and we were all easy again
with each other,
some will say how
Mom knew his voice, someone
will remember how the dog barked, I
will remember my new camera,
and we are a family again,
young and laughing on the front porch.
-Leona Gom

Memoir often focuses on common events that many families experience. This particular author uses simple images, repetition, and rhythm in describing the time when families are reunited.

Recycled, Gently Used, and a Room With a Different View

Our house is a small rambler in the country that is divided into two parts. There is the main living area, then a breezeway/ patio that connects the main house to another part which includes a room, bathroom, closet and a door to the garage. We always felt this breezeway was a wasted space because it was just there. Sometimes on a hot day it was cool there, but it was dark and unappealing. On cold winter mornings you have to sprint through to get to the only shower in the house. We had window boxes that blocked most of the view out the eastern side. My husband has done contracting work so he had a vision of what we could do with it. Even as we talked and planned, I couldn't picture the vision quite as easily. Being an experienced contractor he also knows how and where to find "recycled " and "gently used" materials. All of a sudden this spring we had free doors, windows, T-11 siding (notice the new vocabulary I have learned), a wood stove, and an industrious husband ready to begin the project. For a few weeks now he has been recreating this room. He gave me a heads up on the timeline of the project so I would have ample time to pick colors of paint. Experience has taught him that I can change my mind and waffle on that decision for months. We haven't named the room, but it will have a comfortable sitting area, plants, a place for a fire, and I will have a room with a different view. Now I can see his vision of the room coming to life. ( picture one is Shelby helping to frame the walls, picture two shows how he made the free windows and door fit, picture three is after a coat of paint, picture four is a view from out front facing the new door)

National Poetry Month #24

Porches

On the front porch
Chairs sit still;

The table will receive
Summer drinks;

They wait, arranged,
Strange and polite.

On the back porch
Garden tools spill;

An empty basket
Leans to one side;

The watering can
Rusts among friends.

-Valerie Worth

Patience, Persistance, and A Room With a View

"Knowing trees, I understand the meaning of patience. Knowing grass,

I can appreciate persistence." Unknown

This is a view from my classroom window. In early morning I can enjoy the quietness of the basketball courts before the students show up to play a little three-on-three before class. I can breathe in the fresh morning smell of grass and pine. I can feel the warmth of the early morning sun if I step out from the shadows. The quote above fits perfectly as I reflect on recent teaching days.We know our trees and have learned patience as we have learned and grown together in this room. Each of us has also learned persistence. As we wrap up the final days of our state testing tomorrow and Wednesday persistence has been something I have observed over and over as each class has done their testing.
Tomorrow as my students are bubbling in answers, I will gaze out the window and think of the grass which is as persistent as they are. Both need nourishment, sunshine, and water to thrive! The students also need some patience and encouragement. My classroom is in the "other building" away from the main school building. I feel blessed to have an older, larger classroom with windows and a view I can appreciate four seasons of the year.

National Poetry Month #23: Post #100

When I began my blog on February 11,2007 my goal was to post each day. I surpassed my goal and reached a milestone today. Enjoy post #100!Yard Sale

Gold-plate goblets freckled
with tarnish, disconsolate
pajamas, infant shoes, curling
irons, somebody’s ancient

block flute, a candlestick grove,
bakelite coasters, egg poachers,
7 rubber sandals. Scruffy dolls
and accessories, board games

from whose battered boxes
children still look up with glee.
Two bald lamps, a basketball
and dumbbells, a toaster’s chrome

full of early leaves, and tilted
like a grimy satellite inside
a crate, a two-stroke engine.
Now at last admitted to my

neighbor’s back lawn, which
I’ve longed to cut across for years.
I see a tuft of grass and violets,
violets, growing, up in that
elm’s clavicle, a little island
world in the air, where the trunk
divides. I wouldn’t know how
to tell her of the delight I find

in this. But I think I’ll buy that
small stack of teaspoons, just
so I can linger, picking up this
language, whose every word has

finally toppled over in one case
or tense or mood. Everything as is.

- Robert Farnsworth

"You Say Sarvis, I Say Service": Serviceberry Blossoms Beckon Spring

In the area of northeastern Washington I call home serviceberry bushes cover hillsides along the country roads I frequent. They burst into bloom at the first hint of spring. It seems to be an instant thing. One day the branches are showing new growth, the next day they are exploding with blossoms. The reason it seems this way is because the blossoms appear on this shrub before the leaves.

In the early days of traveling preachers, this spring bloom coincided with the first church services of the year as snow melted and roads again became passable - hence the name Serviceberry. My husband has always said "Sarvisberry". "Sarvis" is the Appalachian pronunciation of service. I didn't know what the plant was when I first moved here. I actually thought it was syringa, the state flower of Idaho (which I should have known doesn't bloom this early and is much more fragrant). Then I thought "Sarvisberry" and "Serviceberry" were two different plants which caused some confusion when we were doing plant identification on our property! He thought people that called them "Serviceberries" were making a mistake.

All confusion aside, they are a rare beauty in spring all over the country. Serviceberries are one of the top-rated wildlife landscape plants. They offer nesting space and plenty of food for the birds. Some think the fruit is quite tasty to humans as well and is often used in pies and preserves.The Native American food pemmican is flavored by serviceberry fruits in combination with fat and dried meats, and the stems are made into arrow shafts.

These shrubs have also become a popular domestic landscape plant. We have a few on our property, but they were native plants that I kept. These blossoms are much more beautiful left on the branch. When cut and placed in water that don't last long and make a bit of a mess as they drop their petals.

Serviceberry blossoms make any trip worthwhile this time of year. Just driving up and down the highway along Lake Roosevelt yesterday we were in awe of their springtime beauty.