As for me, this is the desire of my heart: “And I’ll be the poet who sings your glory – and live what I sing every day.” ~ Psalm 61:8
“The morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy.” ~ Job 38:4
Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Lamentations, and the Song of Solomon are poetry books in the Bible. If you believe, as I do, that the Bible is the inspired word of God, God is a poet! I LOVE that!
They come from situations we’ve only read about, and chosen to distance ourselves from. They’ve faced profound persecution, violence, starvation, and unfathomable humanitarian crises. They seek the simple: Clean water, food, education, a roof, a measure of safety, a measure of acceptance, a measure of stability. They listen. They strain. They try to understand us. They study to learn our language, so they might be able to communicate their needs. Desires. Gratitude. Humor. Life.
Some hear broken English. I hear the flawless sound of resilience.
They come from distant lands, escaping war, famine, natural disaster, unlivable conditions, persecution, economic instability, etc.
They arrive carrying whatever they can. Perhaps a photo or two. A key to a house that may no longer exist. Only the clothes on their backs.
One very dear Syrian friend had to leave suddenly. Flee. Her family, in the middle of a meal, left pots and plates of food years ago.
Ukrainian friends we now consider family arrived with one school-type backpack for their family of four. Yes, you read that correctly. Some aren’t even that lucky.
Dowla chose one item to bring: A wooden pole, balanced on her shoulders, with which to carry her six children when they tired of the 10-day walk from Sudan to a refugee camp in South Sudan.
Aboubacar fled Mali on a donkey cart with his wife and two children. The one item he chose to bring? His goat. “The goat brings me hope, joy, and a sense that things can change for the better.”
After dealing with several months of air raids, Magboola and her three children finally left Sudan the night soldiers came and opened fire. The most important item she chose to carry: a small cooking pot. It could be easily carried, and used to feed her children.
102-year-old Omar is blind. His item of choice was his lati (his walking stick). “If I hadn’t had my lati, I would have crawled to Bangladesh.” The situation in the village he loved, yet had to flee, was dire. The journey, unimaginably hard. A quote I relish from him is this: “If you laugh, others will laugh with you. And if you stop laughing, you will die.”
Elizabeth fled war in Angola. 52 years later, she still struggles with the feeling of not having a real home. The one item she still has with her is her Bible. “In this world, bad things happen, but in the Bible you can find words which help you.”
The stories are endless unimaginable heartbreaking staggering awe-inspiring.
The people are strong courageous thankful giving hopeful, in spite of it all.
It is my honor and great blessing to look into the eyes of those I am privileged to personally know. To hear their stories. See their smiling eyes. Feel their arms around me. Their kisses on my cheeks. To taste their food. Receive their time and their love.
Keith experienced classic heart attack symptoms. Said, “Call 911.”
Very unlike Keith, and so he didn’t have to tell me more than once.
A look and some tests showed no sign of heart attack. Phew! But what happened?
July 31, 2025
Back in the E.R. for STAT echo with contrast. This, our new St. Luke’s?
Medical Test Findings:
He is well nourished. His reproductive organs? * Unremarkable.
August 2, 2025
Gallbadder all along?
Back in the E.R. More tests have resulted in admission. Thankful.
August 3, 2025
6:46 a.m.
Spoke with Keith’s nighttime nurse. He slept well. Still no word on surgery time.
Afternoon
No surgery yet. First will come more heart tests, then gallbladder comes out.
August 4, 2025
9:30 a.m.
Nuclear stress test (a four-hour test) followed by an echo-something
8:00 p.m.
A 30-minute gallbladder removal turns into two hours.
Anterior wall is the only thing removed. The remainder is
too attached to the liver. Apparently they’re inseparable.
August 5, 2025
11:30 a.m.
After not eating since 5 p.m. August 3, Keith is transported
to St. Charle’s to have surgery 2 in two days – needs a bile duct stent:
another 30- minute procedure that took about two hours. Ugh …
5:00 p.m.
Keith is returned to his first hospital in far worse shape than he left.
Suffice it to say, two surgeries in two days: zero of ten stars.
After forty-eight hours of no food or water, and overheated,
there was ice water for his throat, behind his neck, on his head, and chest.
But other than that, he didn’t want to be touched not even by me.
He was beyond hot (take that in every way) and who could blame him?
August 6, 2025
Now his pancreas has become enraged. Numbers have skyrocketed:
Lipase, which should be between zilch and one sixty is at three thousand.
Other lab numbers are also out-of-whack. So, no discharge today.
Clear liquid diet is better than nothing, right? “Nothing” went too long.
August 7, 2025
FINALLY some FOOD! He had flat, unseasoned eggs that he loved, loved, loved!
Improving numbers bring hope again for discharge. Nope. Safer to stay.
August 8, 2025
Finally discharged! Though he is still battling pain and unwell feelings:
He paused at the door and sighed deeply as he stepped inside the kitchen,
slowly walked each room, taking in the sight and scent and feeling of home –
mentioning details, like the way the sun glistens on the wooden floors,
and the beauty of the hydrangea tree that graces our window.
We both recognize how grateful we should be in the midst of hardship.
We have access to a clean, modern hospital filled with good people
who take pride in what they do – from the surgeons, to the NPs, RNs,
doctors, LPNs, those who prepare the food, and those who bring the trays,
the housekeeping staff, the various technicians, and those we don’t see.
The warm smiles and waves. The patience for their patients. The words of comfort.
None of these details went unnoticed, and all were appreciated.
(c) Marie Elena Good 2025
* Keith laughed hysterically over this aspect of his test results report! HA!
This, not really poetic, is an accounting of this event in the lives of my husband and me. I like to write 5/7/5-syllable poems, statements, observations, or feelings that express my day. This is the collection from what began July 29 with classic heart attack symptoms that ended up being a gallbladder attack.
Just for the record: The long, involved surgeries mentioned were through no fault of the surgeons. Keith’s was just a very complicated case.
I may add more to this as the days of recovery continue. This is my way of recording.
Inspired by “ … and the river spoke in a language without words,” from The Dead of Night, a Measure of Rest after Karaoke by Mike Bayles
A River Sighs in Silence
Once the sky emptied itself, moved on to another town, and the swollen river below it stopped chugging trees and gorging children, and the once-bawling waters waned,
the river’s shame released a sigh too soft too late for children’s ears to hear.
I ate eight pies and ate eight French fries. My tummy says that wasn’t wise.
BARE and BEAR
Does a polar bear have big bare feet? They’re covered in hair, so they’re not bare, but here’s what’s neat: They’re big bear feet!
FOR and FOUR
Today’s lunch trade (a huge upgrade!) was all my prunes for four balloons!
DEAR and DEER
My dear,
Though deer can be dear, let me tell you this, dear: the deer are still wild, dear child. They’re beguiling, it’s true, but I’m here to tell you, don’t go touching a deer in the wild.
HEAR and HERE
An h on my ear (right here –>___ear) makes it hear.
FLOUR and FLOWER
flour and water and salt and yeast all mixed up well pans lightly greased and as bread bakes some flowers are placed on our table in a vase our bread is ready we pour some tea: a pretty feast for you and me!
HOUR and OUR
We baked our bread with flour, and prettied our table with flowers, but we barely had time to chat ‘cause we ate in no time flat, but our cleanup took more than an hour!
KNOW AND NO
I know you know no means no.
MEAT and MEET
Let’s meet at the meat market at ten. See you then!
PAIR, PARE, and PEAR
I have two pears (a pair of pears) that I need to trim (called pare).
RIGHT and WRITE
I need to learn to write right, right?
THEIR, THERE, and THEY’RE
Their house is there, and they’re there in their house.
TO, TOO and TWO
Person One, to Two and Three: I want to go. Who wants to go, too?
Person Two: I want to go, too!
Person Three: I don’t want to go too much.
Person One to Person Two: Then I guess it’s just us two!
ONE and WON
Two played cards, but just one won. Which one won? The winner won!
WEAR and WHERE
We’re going somewhere and we’ll not go there bare, so we’ll choose what to wear and we’ll wear it!
pictured words 