Poetry

It would’ve been nice to be asked. After all I was a bridesmaid at their wedding 60 years ago been family historian did a lot of tending to our folks in their waning years though I live much farther away did most of the cleaning of the family home went to their kids and grandkids […]

When a graduate student lived at my house in Springfield he brought along his alligator.  Every so often he would come home with a little package, the sort you get Chinese food in he would announce “feeding frenzy!” I would join him at the alligator’s tank and Andy would pour in the goldfish. Then what […]

It would’ve been nice to be asked. After all I was a bridesmaid at their wedding 60 years ago been family historian did a lot of tending to our folks in their waning years though I live much farther away did  most of the cleaning of the family home went to their kids and grandkids  […]

by Megan and Gillian (in their teens) How to care for children and keep them out of trouble 1. Supply them with books 2. Supply them with good books 3. Give them reading material 4. Let them read 5. Take them to the library 6. Find lots of good books 7. Teach them to read […]

Dear Grandparents D, Thank you for the beautiful music box that plays “Jeanie with the light brown hair” on it. It is pleasant to listen to it and I also enjoy looking at how it works. I also like that you give me something when it is not even my Birthday or Christmas. It is very […]

Phil Kendell and I taught Kiddy Lit together. We usually had supper before class. One night we omitted the meal, we both knew the book well. We met two minutes before class, realized we had ordered a comic book for Tom Sawyer! What to do? We rapidly changed plans and spent the evening discussing various […]

My avid sisters got their driver’s license at age 16, I did not. I saw that, once you could drive, you got sent to town with a list of errands. But at 18 I started Beloit College. My dad said, “I’m not driving a kid of your age to town every day.” So, I got […]

This fan letter came a while ago from Kitty A limerick for you (title given by writer) There once was a poet from Beloit, whose writing was especially adroit. She taught a long time; Her career, a good climb. Many writers did she anoint! 2025 Jacqueline Jackson

My mother kept me practicing even when I didn’t want to. I remember once in a violin lesson I was trying to play “Brindisi,” a terrible piece musically, but marvelous for problems of technique. My teacher had told me to memorize it, and I’d made a half-hearted attempt. Suddenly, in frustrated rage, I grabbed “Brindisi,” crumpled it up and […]

My friend, Rodd Whelpley, has discovered various farm cams online but, he says the viewer can’t experience what you did growing up on the farm. “One can’t hear the whoosh of the milk as it leaves the udders, smell the cow patties that the animal drops, feel the hair on the backside of the cow, […]

(Chorus follows every verse, by students in a 1976 Fantasy Class) Wilbur and Charlotte and Templeton the rat; There goes Peter Rabbit with a beautiful white cat; From a distant asteroid came the Little Prince; Said we all must hurry now, a matter of consequence.   Goin’ down to Narnia: just follow the yellow brick […]