Poetry

In our move-about early marriagewe went for low- or no- rent spots.One year we lived over a tavernwhose jukebox blasted till 1am.We solved that problem byputting the kids in our bedroomwhile we took theirs cantileveredover the outside. Come spring wemoved to a free cottage in Vermont.While I was cleaning one little girllay on a bed […]

What is it like to be 98, tra la?I have all of my bits and most of my witsexcept those that are gone that I might try to hailif I could but glimpse a vanishing tailAre you a turn-pager? If so, I will wagerYou’ve not reached this stanza. I’ll stop while I can-za! 2026 Jacqueline […]

We put off getting a TV till long aftereveryone else had one. We wantedour kids to be more readers thanviewers. Then came Kennedy’sassassination and there was nothingbut three days of news on the TV.We got one. By then it was December,and the first thing we watched as a familywas “The Wizard of Oz.” My second […]

I grew up during WW2 when gas and tires were rationed. A couple times when an in-town boyfriend wanted me to come over, his folks being out, I’d ride my horse downtown. But how could we pitch a little woo with a horse tied up in the driveway whistling through his nose while stamping impatiently […]

All my life I’ve wanted someone tocare about me, someone to understand.I never realized until lately that the mostobvious person to do this and the most important is myself! I am the onlyperson who can truly know my thoughts,actions, and intentions.  This makes me the logical one to understand myself at the many stages of my life. That’s […]

What is it like to be 98, tra la? I have all of my bits and most of my wits except those that are gone that I might try to hail if I could but glimpse a vanishing tail Are you a turn-pager? If so, I will wager You’ve not reached this stanza. I’ll stop […]

I have visited the Bronte homesteadin Haworth England many times, withclasses and with my daughters andhave seen the portrait on the landingof the famous Bronte sisters whosurround a painted-out blob in themiddle of the circular frame. DidBranwell Bronte paint himself out?Or a sister? Or someone later? Iwonder how many family histories,not so well known have […]

A friend helping clean my kitchenbrought me resting on her palmsa long rusty flat item. I said“Doesn’t everyone keep a bayonet in their pantry?”About that weapon: My dad pickedit up in France 1924 from Belleau Wood where was the worst carnage.The trenches now overgrown with weeds. Thousands killed here –They had to clamber over the slainto fire, though […]

When I was small my mom would lie on the couch on  Sunday afternoon with a cloth over her eyes and listen to the symphony on the radio. This  made me uneasy: mothers  shouldn’t lie down with their eyes closed. The domestic ship might run aground with no one at the tiller and who, who […]

I lived near Oxford for a yearAnd once bicycled the nearbycountryside with a neighbor. We cycled past a country churchyard and Maggie said, “The TreacleWell is in there” so we parkedour bikes and went through thelychgate to find it. The wellwas unobtrusive. Maggie stoodby the rim and I took her picture. You can’t very wellphotograph a well. […]

I sought and found a certain grave in North Oxford.  J.R.R. Tolkien’s headstone read simply “Beren” and his wife’s read “Luthien.” I found a pair of  those special dice some of you will know well,  hidden in the leaves, a gift from another pilgrim.  2026 Jacqueline Jackson