Thursday, July 25, 2024

WHY A POEM—OR A CAT?

“It’s what kids once learned a long time ago. . .what this nation
was founded on--morality, memorization of poetry, learning to read aloud, to do arithmetic, and to do what literate people do in society.”
—Marva Collins**



“I still don’t see why anyone would ever
read a poem,”
the young man, student, told us on TV.
Answers came lame, and all the wrong
protesting ones.

I would have said, why, one would read a poem
for the reason you might watch a cat—
its grace notes curling, stretching, those
little hairs, sunburst
on haunches, stone-lion-crouched,
the quivering intelligent tail, the eyes,
marble-miraculous gleaming.

“But what’s the use of it?”

No use. No use in tapping your foot in time
to tunes,
or driving along, car windows down, wind in your
hair,
and the smell of river bottoms and plowed fields,
or even fertilizer.

You’d read a poem to delight the ear and eye,
for something to wonder about,
to take a moment out, to touch what’s real
that you don’t have to; watching flocks
of small birds wheeling
on sluices of the air we breathe,
or hawk or eagle, plummeting,
or motionless aloft on that same air.

To put a frame around this moment, tape it down
and get a handle on it.

Like stroking that sweet feline in your lap.

— Harriet Stovall Kelley
1933 - 2022





** protégé of Eugene Lang, who promised college to ghetto kids finishing high school


Note from poet ~
My mother, Evelyn Linch Stovall (1904-1962) wrote a textbook, You and your Reading for Ginn & Co, 1940, as an outgrowth of her Master’s work at Emory. In it my father has a poem, “Mr. Propaganda.” But my two younger sisters turned out to be musicians, so bookish is not inherited, necessarily, just “bent.”



PS This entry is illustrated by my newest art acquisition:  Oil (9"x12") by Sally Mitchell, soon to be framed and displayed ~


Saturday, May 11, 2024

WHEN YOU SAY GOODBYE TO A PARENT

 

You are suddenly living in a whole new world.


You are no longer ‘the child’ and regardless of how long you have officially been ‘grown up’ for, you realise you actually never were until this moment. The shock of this adjustment will shake your very core.


When you have finally said goodbye to both your parents, assuming you were lucky enough to have had two. You are an orphan on this earth and that never, ever gets easier to take no matter how old and gray you are yourself and no matter how many children of your own you have.


You see, a part of your body is physically connected to the people that made it and also a part of your soul. When they no longer live, it is as if you are missing something practical that you need – like a finger or an arm. Because really, you are. You are missing your parent and that is something far more necessary than any limb.


And yet the connection is so strong it carries on somehow, no-one knows how exactly. But they are there. In some way, shape or form they are still guiding you if you listen closely enough. You can hear the words they would choose to say to you.


You can feel the warmth of their approval, their smile when a goal is achieved, their all-consuming love filling the air around you when a baby is born they haven’t met.

If you watch your children very closely you will see that they too have a connection with your parents long after they are gone. They will say things that resonate with you because it brings so many memories of the parent you are missing. They will carry on traits, thoughts and sometimes they will even see them in their dreams.

This is not something we can explain.

Love is a very mystical and wondrous entity.

It is far better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all and grief, grief is the price of that love. The deeper the love the stronger the grief.

When you say goodbye to a parent, do not forget to connect with that little girl who still lives inside you somewhere.

Take very good care of her, for she, she will be alone and scared.

When you say goodbye to your parents, you lose an identity, a place in the world. When the people who put you on this earth are no longer here, it changes everything.

Look after yourself the way they looked after you and listen out for them when you need it the most.
They never really leave.

Donna Ashworth
From her poetry collection ‘to the women’



Photo Selfie taken 7 June 2015 as we were leaving Jekyll Island GA after our first beach getaway together.

Saturday, February 24, 2024

Church History

Where I've attended church over the years....

1958 - St Luke Episcopal, Atlanta, GA (baptized)
1965 - St Anne's Episcopal, Atlanta, GA
1966 - Mtn Home AFB 
1967 - St James Anglican-Episcopal, Atlanta, GA (confirmed)
1978 - Chalcedon Presbyterian, Atlanta, GA
1979 - Harvester Presbyterian, Springfield, VA
1980 - McLean Presbyterian, McLean, VA
1981 - Church Creek Presbyterian, Charleston, SC
1985 - Rainbow City Presbyterian, Rainbow City, AL
1987 - First Presbyterian, Rome, GA
1988 - Chalcedon Presbyterian, GA

Saturday, January 27, 2024

WORD OF THE YEAR - HEART

 


As a follow-up to the practicality of last year's word (steward),
 I am focusing on what informs that Biblical action: a heart properly connected to the Creator ~







Per habit, an acrostic

H = HELP/HOPE - Psalm 121:1-2:1/Romans 15:4
E = EMPOWER/ENLIVEN/ENABLE - through the power of the Holy Spirit
A = ABIDE - John 15
R = REVIVE/RENEW - Romans 12:2
T = TEACH - Psalm 119:                      TRANSFORM - Romans 12:2

With these I will do Scripture-based word studies and also focus on Psalm 119:  the very foundation for connecting one's heart to the Creator.

Not only will I read Psalm 119 methodically, but also will search for  hymns/lyrics based on these verses.  Daily readings from Charles Bridges' commentary on Psalm 119 are already underway.
Re-listening to a JCMIII Psalm 119 series:  The Christian's Delight at Sermonaudio and referencing commentaries by Thomas Manton, John Calvin, and Matthew Henry supplement my study.

At church, Pastor Jess is preaching through Corinthians, so I will attempt to integrate his sermons with my personal devotions.  In addition, I hope to read up on the life and times of the Corinthians: biography of the Apostle Paul (for example, historical fiction byTaylor Caldwell and movie _Peter and Paul_)

That sounds like a good start for  2024 ~

Saturday, January 20, 2024

ABOUT ME

CREATED by the LORD God Jehovah

SAVED by the sacrifice of His precious son Jesus Christ

EMPOWERED by the Holy Spirit to live on earth and serve (Rom 6:11)

STEWARD of the manifold grace of the one and only true God

FOLLOWER of King Jesus

DAUGHTER of Christian parents

WIFE of one Godly husband

MOTHER of four daughters

GRANDMOTHER of seven 

SISTER of fellow followers of Jesus

FRIEND to some

NEIGHBOR to many


Sunday, June 18, 2023

Father's Day Reminiscences

 



June 18, 2006
Father's Day

After worship at Chalcedon Presbyterian Church,  we gathered at Pine Lark for a Sunday lunch of boiled shrimp with Louis sauce followed by listening to a CD of spirituals in the living room.

Fun things to remember about WDJ  a la five senses:

Touch:  steady hands coupled with practiced technical skills to perform delicate operations on small human anatomy (arteries)....... and remove splinters from children's fingers and toes

Sight:  green eyes that were observant - dont ever think he wasn't paying attention ~

Hearing:  loved singing/listening to music like spirituals and Handel's Messiah  

Taste:  keen taste buds that allowed him to detect specific flavors in our cooked dishes and he always ate whatever I prepared.

Smell:  distinctly shaped nose that loved the scent of gardenias, and hence, his wife's perfume (White Shoulders);  on his 80th birthday I gave him a new supply white cotton handkerchiefs - 80 of them!



On this day in 2023, I re-listened to his 1987 lecture on organ transplantation and brain death.  It was nice to hear his voice and be reminded of his astute reasoning skills.


Thursday, May 11, 2023

Mother's Day

This year is my second for *firsts*.   In 2021, my father died.  Then 21 months later, in 2022, my mother died. 


And so, that just means that I am experiencing once again those *firsts* without one or the other. 

It's just my turn to suffer  loss. 


I am thankful for the loyalty and support of my nuclear family and special friends.



I am blessed to have had both of my parents for such a long time in my short life.... to get to know them as an adult as well as an *older* adult is indeed special.


In memory of my recently deceased mother, this year for Mother's Day I made a donation to Frontlineresponse.org  This particular organization has a strong presence in my city/state well-known for attracting crowds for special sporting events and conventions.

To show my heart for someone I dont believe I have to have "walked a mile in her/his shoes" (moccasins*).  I am willing to be judged by the standard of Holy Scripture and strive to be a good steward ("put my money where my mouth is.")  Support for those in crisis pregnancy has long been dear to my heart and now I add support to the rescue of those ensnared in se*-trafficking.

In the past in memory of my father I made donations to topics dear to his heart:  pro-life ministries (GRTL) and private practice/education of medicine/surgery (AAPS & GA Vascular Foundation)
















PS - Red Tulips on Moma's yet-to-be-marked grave are representative of her battle with Parkinson's.

PPS Family group photo taken 4/21/13 - ten years ago ... on my 55th birthday celebrated after church with dinner at the Canoe restaurant in Vinings, GA on the banks of the Chattahoochee River where I grew up.

* reference to popular poem by M Lathrap