Poetry

It was a beautiful afternoon the day before Christmas. The house was colorfully decorated, the cafeteria dinner ready for the family of children, grandchildren and friends. The tall stately tree was glimmering with silver and colored light. The air was full of  mystery and joy. All day little feet as well as larger ones were […]

When my second child was perhaps five she would present me with “which would you rather?” Such as, being eaten by a hungry grizzly bear, or having my hand nailed to a board with black widow spiders swarming on it? I would answer I really didn’t want either! She would reply, “Yes, but what would […]

All silences are not silent: most are filled with meaning. One, whose nothingness is pregnant, comes after the end of the introduction to “Handel’s  Messiah”: A long, waiting silence: I hold my breath. When the silence can last no longer, the voice of the tenor comes: “Comfort ye, comfort ye, my  people.” And the music […]

I try not to think of my childwho took her own life. Butsometimes I dream. Last night I dreamed she came to me, age maybe sixteen.And said, “I have to leave for a while but I will be back.”I walked with her across the creek and through the backpasture. I saw that she had her violin case in her arms. Good, […]

I have visited the Bronte homestead in Haworth England many times, with classes and with my daughters and have seen the portrait on the landing of the famous Bronte sisters who surround a painted-out blob in the middle of the circular frame. Did Branwell Bronte paint himself out? Or a sister? Or someone later? I […]

How can anyone be blamed for dancing the “Shimmy” when even a cockroach can’t resist it in the face of jazzy music? Dr. Helen Clark, head of psychology department here, is authority for the statement: “The Shimmy is fast becoming the popular indoor sport for cockroaches.” She has proved to her students that soft, tuneful […]

From an old newspaper clipping: Indianapolis authorities went on record against the “Shimmy,” “Camel Walk” and the “Bunny Hug.” The Board ordered superintendents to ban these dances from city parks and community houses. “Some form of modern dances, such as the Toddle, Shimmy, Camel Walk, Bunny Hug, and  Cheek to Cheek dances are coarse, vulgar, […]

My student wrote about her childhood fear of vampires, the extensive preparations she made to her bed each night to make it vampire-proof, the number of talismans she possessed to keep vampires at bay. Her room reeked of garlic. This student is into mature years now and I have never heard of a vampire attack. […]

There was an orchard on the dairy farm.  My uncle told me, “One year in my teens  there were so many apples that the farm  couldn’t use them all, in spite of   apple pies, apple crisps, and  apple brown betties coming out of our ears. I had visions of hard cider  but Gramp had me pitch […]

As a kid on the farm, I kept my ears open, especially around the hired men’s sitting room. I heard about Glenn and Bill, both courting the same girl. “Who took her to the dance?” asked one hired man. “Glenn took her,” replied  the other. “But Bill hid in the rumble seat of Glenn’s coupe. […]

Do people eat prunes these days? When we were small my mother would dice up a prune and add it to sugared whipping cream. (We lived on a dairy farm after all so cream was plentiful.) This dessert was called “Prune Whip” and we kids loved it. Why not give it a try?

My sister Jo was a reader. With the family parked outside the post office Joan took the farm mail and never lifting her eyes  from the page walked up the familiar steps, disappeared inside, reappeared, and still reading felt her way down to the car. We all watched as she reached for the handle and […]