Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day mom.  Today we celebrate our mothers.  Mimi will be 89 years young in June.  This picture was taken by my daughters on a recent visit.  I wrote a poem for a contest several years ago.  The category was called "Steel Magnolias".  I wrote the poem because I thought my mother fit the bill.  My daughters are preparing to celebrate Bebe with a brunch later today.  Let's honor all moms this special day.

 

  THE MYSTERY OF THE FLOWER

 

She was the Belle of Jeff Davis County.

Stunning to the beholder.

Long haired brunette

with more curves than a mountain highway.

 

She was raised in the traditions of the South.

Never leave the house without your make-up.

Always dress to the nines.

Her wide brimmed hats shadowed her face

to add to the mystery.

 

She learned to be strong and silent in adversity.

A player in a man’s world.

Influential, but not obtrusive.

Beautiful, but powerful.

 

She remains the same today.

Never making an appearance until her face is fixed.

Her hair shows no gray.

Graceful and fragrant like the Magnolia’s blossom.

 

But make no mistake,

her resolve is steel.

Are You Puzzled?

Are you puzzled?  I often am these days.  I keep wondering how stupid can the politicians be?  I wonder how much good it does to post the truth day after day and have our alleged representatives sell us down the river?  Our president seems oblivious to the ways of the world and prances around like a little child turned loose in the candy shop.  Pandora's Box has been cast wide open and all the minor imps we have kept contained all these years are peeking over the top.  I know the answers, but I'm not sure if most folks are ready for them.  So many in our country want an easy out solution.  We must not offend any aberrant group.  We must include all regardless of how damaging they are to our freedom.  We must allow government to meet our every need.  Friends, it cannot be so.  There are rules to be obeyed both morally and physically if we are to survive.  Ignoring our problems will not make them go away.  Making aberrant behaviors legal will not stop them from happening.  If you make bank robbery legal, it doesn't decrease the number of bank robberies, it only causes the arrests for bank robbery to cease.  You money is still gone.  Pseudo science is being preached as global truth while legitimate scientists are refuting the lies and being ignored.  Many say they don't like to talk about these controversial issues because they might offend someone.  Albert Einstein (a guy known to be smarter than me) said,  It is the duty of every citizen according to his best capacities to give validity to his convictions in political affairs.   I worte a poem once to highlight my angst.  I hope you enjoy it.

Life Questions

Little Jack Horner

stands in a corner

and ponders,

all alone.

 

What if a room

is round?

What can a cat do

then?

 

Roam around

until he is tired,

then fall down?

Will he make a

sound?

 

Who would know

if he’s all alone?

An air mallet

beating a xylophone

won’t keep you

up at night.

 

A single thread will

never be twine.

If there is no

darkness

does light really

shine?

 

A solitary sentinel

with no one to guard.

So what if he stands

there stiff as a board?

Dennis Price

'Tis The Season

I thought about saving this poem until later in the Christmas season, but I think it may have more impact if I post it earlier. I hope you remember the reason for the season everyday of the year.

CHRISTMAS PASSAGE

When I was young and all was fresh and new,
and Christmas trees were tall and covered up
with fancy balls and bubbling lights that shone
through glittering tinsel hung upon each bough,
I could not seem to tear myself away.

Colored wrappers topped with shiny bows
could hold me in their hypnotizing trance.
I could not sleep at all the night before
so tossed and turned until the morning broke.

With energy I’d never have again,
I peeped around the corner just to see
if Santa had put toys beneath our tree.

Then as I grew, my childhood feelings changed.
Replaced by facts, as notions were debunked.
But I still searched for presents just to see
if Santa had left one or two for me.

The years flew by and I was Santa Claus.
My kids were now where I could only dream.
And once again I shared with them the awe.
But, in that joy, was weariness it seemed.
Brought on by months of gaudy ads and things.

I sat amid the rubble of our fete
and thought on why we give the gifts we do.
And as I did a peace came over me,
Jesus was the reason for our mirth.
Born in the little town of Bethlehem
God’s gift to undeserving men on earth.

Dennis Price

Thanksgiving Day

Dia de gracias. However you say it, take time to pray it. I hope you stop today and say a pray of thanks for all your blessings. It only takes one day without some of the things God has given us to remind us of how blessed we really are. The poorest of us here are better off than most in this old world, and we need to thank God for the blessing of living in the greatest country on Earth. God shows himself in his creation to even the most primitive and we should think of the Creator when we see it too.


GOD’S PEBBLE

There was a man upon life’s road
who rarely wavered from his task,
walked with purposed step and true,
until a pebble found his shoe.

And once inside, the pebble wore
upon his foot till stop he must.
While kneeling down to get the stone
he saw a world he’d never known.

On his left he saw the sea,
breathed salt air, felt the breeze,
heard the crash of waves on sand,
felt a presence, not of man.

On his right huge mountains rose
rugged peaks, towering trees.
A pristine lake, reflections bore
that magnified God’s bounteous store.

He took the pebble from his shoe,
once more started on his way.
But, stopped and looked from time to time
as God’s small pebble came to mind.

Dennis Price

Happy Thanksgiving Day from my house to yours.

Fishing the Creek

In my youth I learned to fish in creeks. My great granny Tish was a master at finding the darkest holes on the creek. This usually meant the most overgrown too. Her old collie dog had been bitten by water moccasins so many times he was virtually immune to the venom. She wore dark colored clothing and a sun bonnet on these fishing expeditions, and if you had on anything light colored you couldn't go. She said the fish could see you and it would scare them off. She carried a short cane pole and a syrup bucket with earth worms in it. As I grew older, I too learned to look for those places where the water was deeper and provided cover for the fish. The short pole was easier to maneuver in those tight places where the tree limbs grew out over the water. Bream, Goggleye, White Perch, and Catfish were the main fish one might expect to catch. I decided to write a poem to try and capture the feel of fishing on the creek.


The Catch

I used to take a short cane pole
and head out for the creek
where tannin colored water ran
like iced tea over white soft sand.
It pooled in bends or near felled
trees in deep black holes where
fishes hid.
With weight and hook and wiggling worm
I’d drop my line and watch the
slender bobber move along in
current like a silent periscope
until it disappeared as some finned denizen
took flight with bait in mouth
before he felt the hook and my swift tug
to bring him upward from the depths.

The future is much like the present, only longer. - Dan Quisenberry

National Flag Day

The National Flag Day Foundation

Our mission is to carry on the tradition of the first flag day observance. On June 14th, 1885, Bernard J. Cigrand, a 19 year old teacher at Stony Hill School, placed a 10 inch, 38- star flag in a bottle on his desk then assigned essays on the flag and its significance. This observance, commemorated Congresses adoption of the Stars and Stripes as the flag of the United States on June 14, 1777. This observance was also the beginning of Cigrand’s long years of fervent and devoted effort to bring about national recognition and observance of Flag Day. The crowning achievement of his life came at age fifty when President Wilson, on June 14, 1916, issued a proclamation calling for a nation wide observance of Flag Day.

Every time I hear the National Anthem, and see the flag of the United States of America, I am moved to sing loudly the words, and give a heart felt salute. It sometimes brings tears to these old eyes as I think of what price we've paid to keep her flying. To all who have served this great Nation we are blessed to be a part of, I salute you. I wrote a poem about America that sums up my feelings. I hope you share my sentiment.

AMERICA

Out of revolution,
the grip of monarch’s rule.
Driven by freedom.
Necessity.
Founded on values
from God’s holy book,
the glue that binds,
in trust,
its varied masses.

America

Through fire of war,
without,
within,
was forged in strength
a strong republic.

America

And though the vision dims
in her prosperity,
she rises to the challenge
when tyrants seek
to quell her voice.

America

Blessed by God,
we must hold those
values close
that bound
our loose knit colonies
in their infancy.

America

There is nothing new under the sun but there are lots of old things we don't know. - Ambrose Bierce