Poetic Bloomings | pictured words

All About the Love

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Dad was a teacher, a band director, and a professional musician. In all of these professions, he was my father. I was always learning in his presence. He gave everything one hundred percent. I hear, in his voice: “Nothing great was ever accomplished without enthusiasm.” “Take it with you. If you need it, you’ll have it.” “Do your best.” “Practice right.” “Never look back. Just move forward.” “No regrets.” “Love is the most important thing.”

All of it, important. All of it, useful. All of it, wise.

There were times I was privileged to witness him at his core. Times that planted pride and love in my heart that I can hardly express. One of the things that made my knees weak came very late in life. I was sitting with a now extremely fragile man who was watching the love of his life slip slowly away, due to Alzheimer’s. “I’m not sure how to handle the coming day when I go to her room to kiss her goodnight, and she doesn’t know who I am.” My heart. The conversation was one of the hardest of my life. But also one that showed me he was still, in his elderly and fragile state, my father. As we talked about dark days ahead that could begin any moment, he gave me advice that encompassed all he was: “No matter what happens, remember her love.”

Love enthusiastically.
Love takes practice. Practice daily.
Take love with you. If you need it, you’ll have it.
(You’ll need it.)

Thank you, Dad. Thank you.

2 Comments

July 25, 2019

WHERE LIES MY INTEREST?

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Photo by Keith R. Good

When I was a child,
I loved to pretend.
The “what” mattered little,
As it was all in the imagining.

As a young adult,
I loved to garden,
Bicycle, and hike.
The “where” mattered little,
As it was all in the doing.

As a now-older adult,
My passions are to
Pray, write, and ponder.
The “why” matters much,
As it is all in the love.

2 Comments

July 17, 2019

I DON’T MEAN TO BE MEAN, BUT …

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HA!!! Photo by Keith R. Good

The times I feel breath near my face
Makes me nervous of who’s in my space.
Are you foe? Are you friend?
I don’t want to offend,
But deceased, just desist! Don’t touch base!

2 Comments

July 15, 2019

AMERICAN ENGLISH

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American English is clearly a rebel,
against which I must rebel!
And while we’re on the subject,
why do we subject ourselves
to such madness as homographs?
Just for laughs?
And who invented them?
(Eye roll) What a gem!

Well, I think not.
And through all this thorough thought,
I’m fraught with not knowing
Who thought up homophones.
Dim watt!

And silent letters, and
those that change the sounds of others, too.
I have no clue. Do you?
Shrew!

And rules? Hardly more than flukes!
Like the whole “i before e” thing,
albeit cutely rhyming,
is the height of forfeiting
the rule books.
Kooks!

Now let’s talk contranyms.
For instance, weather means to withstand,
but also to wear away?
Well may I just say
only a contrary soul would assign
opposing meanings to the same word.
Turd.

I could go on, but you would just yawn,
and the point would be forgone.
So for now, just know
English brings me woe.
Whoa …
It’s plain to see why. *sigh*

2 Comments

July 13, 2019

SATURDAY NIGHTS

Found photo at blog of James Wallace Harris

When I was just a little girl,
I’d whimper in my room.
I’d plug my ears, hold back the tears,
And fight the dread of doom.

With covers pulled up to my eyes,
I’d suffocate my scream.
What once-a-week would make me freak?
The Perry Mason theme!

I WAS SUCH A WIMP! Still am. 😉

2 Comments

July 11, 2019

CUBS IN MY TUB

“BEAR IN THERE” POEM AND ILLUSTRATION BY SHEL SILVERSTEIN

For Poetic Blooming’s prompt to write a poem reflecting the poet I wish I was.

I adore everything Silverstein! He inspires me to write for children, but oh to write like he does! My poem entitled “Cubs in My Tub” was inspired by Mr. Silverstein’s “Bear in There.”

CUBS IN MY TUB (by Marie Elena Good)

There are cubs in my tub
So I gave them my scrubby
To sponge off the grunge
That was left by my hubby.

But now, misbehaving,
They’re splashing, and shaving
(With hubby’s new blade!)
And now clearly a maid and a plumber
Would be laborsaving.

I opened the fridge to find Poppa bear there,
And I asked him to come get his cubs.
I was nervous (a smidge),
But then out from the fridge came
-Their poppa
-Their momma
-My hubs!

4 Comments

July 9, 2019

DEAR MOM AND DAD,

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Dear Mom and Dad,

Having devoted grandparents made my childhood something special. Holidays were spectacular, with wall-to-wall cousins and outstanding meals — Irish on one side; Italian on the other. Summertime meant choosing a cousin to spend a few nights at Grandma and Grandpa’s. I suppose you probably knew, but we were kind of given free reign, and ice cream and nonpareils rained freely. Those were fun years of my life. I miss the years, and I miss my grandparents.

I don’t miss them like my kids miss you. We didn’t have the special closeness my kids had with you … the kind where they weren’t sure they could ever live without you. The kind where they spent their lives fearing the inevitable. The kind that took special grace from God to go on in the wake of losing you both within 35 days of each other. The kind that begs, “Just one more day. Just one more conversation. Just one more hug.” The kind that made their lives richer for the living, a bit shattered in the leaving, and grateful for every shared moment.

A love worth the loss.
This is who I want to be
To my granddaughters.

10 Comments

July 3, 2019

UNTITLED HAIBUN

Incredible image courtesy of Lars_Nissen_Photoart, on Pixabay

He asks what my hardest moments have been, pressing me to purposely reflect on a life that has been primarily appreciation-inducing. I had parents who loved me well and modeled life; relatives who enveloped and affirmed me; friends who have laughed with me, and accepted my limitations; a sister with whom I can celebrate differences and honor common blood; children and grandchildren of limitless love; a husband who gives selflessly and fills my gaps; a Savior who has walked beside me since my earliest days. These thoughts of great blessing bring easy breath and grateful tear. Not that I have not experienced occasional pain. Loss of loved ones. Moves I did not want to make. Divorce. I have not been exempt from affliction. But searing misery has come from a single source: The suffering of those I love.

There is no torment
more incapacitating
than wanton worry.

5 Comments

July 1, 2019

GIGGLE GOADERS

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Laughter with cousins, next generation! Keep it coming, fam!

Frazier, Moonstruck, Princess Bride,
Cousins on my father’s side,
Husband’s laugh that fills the house,
(“What’s that roar?!” “That’s just my spouse.”),
White folks dancing (should be crimes!),
Silverstein’s and Nesbitt’s rhymes,
English Bulldogs, a good pun,
Babies’ giggles … guess I’m done.

June 30, 2019

TRUER THINGS

Image by Brian Merrill from Pixabay

What makes you feel loved?
I silently asked no one in particular,
Expecting their response
To match mine.
But it didn’t.
So I had to learn them –
Their language,
Their movements,
Their culture,
Their needs,
Their history –
Them.
Then I silently said again,
To all who were there and not there –
What makes you feel loved?
This time, their answer matched mine.
It always did.

3 Comments

pictured words

Category: Poetic Bloomings

July 28, 2019

All About the Love

July 25, 2019

WHERE LIES MY INTEREST?

July 17, 2019

I DON’T MEAN TO BE MEAN, BUT …

July 15, 2019

AMERICAN ENGLISH

July 13, 2019

SATURDAY NIGHTS

July 11, 2019

CUBS IN MY TUB

July 9, 2019

DEAR MOM AND DAD,

July 3, 2019

UNTITLED HAIBUN

July 1, 2019

GIGGLE GOADERS

June 30, 2019

TRUER THINGS