|
 |
ON THE PASSING OF RICHARD
McFEELY
Goodbye, my revered master,
Farewell, Beloved friend-
You were in my younger years
When tears and laughter blend.
You helped shape a thousand lives
(you laughed our laughs
-and cried our cries)
You soothed away our youthful fears.
Your very essence left its mark
Through troubled years
In youthful hearts!
You always had a helping hand
for we were young and scared...
We always knew
to come to you.
We always knew you cared.
"Love of Learning" was instilled
in every human breast...
You taught us to be honest
and always do our best.
Now sweet Darkness holds you...
and worldly cares transcend-
Goodbye, my revered master,
Farewell most honored friend!
|
 |
|
 |
Hark the Plastic
Angels Sing
What happened to you, Christmas?
You used to be so jolly.
I loved when you wore red and
green
and draped yourself in holly!
Now, carols are generic
and manger scenes are banned...
Political correctness
has swept across our land.
What's happened to the
Christchild?
He's mentioned not at all.
Your meaning's been diminished
to the dollar store and mall.
Now, you're just a 'holiday'
Without a trace of God.
Just a frantic scramble
for an X-box and I-pod!
I miss Joseph and Mary--
the angels and the star.
I yearn to hear of wise-men
who travelled oh so far.
I want you back, dear Christmas,
The way you used to be:
So full of joy and reverence
With Jesus as the key.
2009 |
 |
|
 |
Deer tracks winding through the
woods,
Silos wearing fleecy
hoods;
Barn owls huddled
high on beams,
Ice-teeth biting
mountain streams.
Leaning on some bales
of hay
Are Jack frost
etchings on display.
Inside, the family's
safe and warm.
Again it's Winter on
the farm.
recent
|
All Tucked In
In her robe and
slippers
December goes to
bed.
She
gently smoothes the icesheets.
and folds back the lacey spread.
She fluffs her frosted pillow
and pulls snow-blankets tight.
A frozen prayer she whispers
then kisses Moon
goodnight!
by Charlotte C. Partin
|
|
HOMESICK
FOR SPRING
Winter's like
a stay abroad....
impersonal and cold.
Sights and sounds surround me
in an unfamiliar fold.
I yearn to hear Spring spoken
in a modulated drawl,
with the accent of a whippoorwill
or a robin's wake -up call.
I long to sip the sweetness
of honeysuckle brew.
I need to see a butterfly
- just a peek would do-
My winter trip is ending...
I'm packing everything.
I saw a crocus bud today--
My passport back to Spring!
|
 |
The Fifth Day...
The fifth day of my diet....
"I'm doing quite well.
Carrots taste great
Cottage-cheese ...swell.
Not one thing caloric
has passed through my lips.
I don't yearn for Big Mac's
nor crave nacho chips.
My mood's sweet and sunny,
I'm not edgy at all.
I breeze through aerobics
and jog at the Mall.
I've lost weight already-
My dress size is ten.
I hate everything chocolate.
It's a cinch to get thin!"
Oh, there's one little detail
I guess you'll surmise:
Whenever I diet ......
I START TELLING LIES!!!!!!!!!
|
|
[Charlotte
wrote this after the death of her beloved
dachshund many years ago.]
VACANCY
Old house for rent--
Vacated last year.
Bring all your family
They'll be welcome here.
Barking's permitted
(scratching is, too)
The last tenant left
an old tennis shoe.
It has a new paint job -
a real clean dirt floor.
I'll hang a new sign
with your name, on the door.
There's no waiting list...
move in right away
A lick on my hand
is all that you'd pay.
It is an apartment
of which you'd be proud.
There's only one house-rule:
No dying allowed!!!
|
CHARLOTTE'S HEART
Charlotte's heart is full of
Love
for every man alive,
Charlotte's poor heart shatters
when any human dies.
Charlotte's heart swells with
pride
when she observes a fawn.
Charlotte's breath come short and quick
at the peachy blush of Dawn.
Charlotte's drunk with nectar
from flagons full of Spring...
In fact, she does not sober up
'til Winter's rolling in!
Charlotte's blood is Poetry-
It throbs through every vein.
Charlotte's life-blood oozes
from the nib-tip of her pen!
|
WESTERN
WIND
By Charlotte Partin
If I could
saddle up the wind,
I'd gallop
through the sky --
I would lasso
lightening bolts
while
cloud-herds grazed nearby.
I'd rustle up
some sunbeams;
To galaxies
I'd roam....
Then in a
cloud of stardust
I'd spur my
wind-steed home!
|
|
A Midwife's
Dream
If only I'd been living
two thousand years ago...
I'd have packed my midwife's bag,
to Bethlehem, I'd go.
Here is what I'd carry
on that blessed, holy morn-
'Tis what I'd bring for Mary
for when her Son was born:
A tiny robe of linen;
fleece stockings for His feet
A tiny crown of woven down
for that precious head so sweet.
For Joseph, I'd have herbal tea
and make unleavened bread.
I'd pack two silken pillows
to place 'neath Mary's head.
I'd sit her by the stable door
and comb her lovely hair
while shepherds and the Wise Men
paid humble homage there.
Next, I'd let them enter
(what a long way they had come)
to view with adoration
her peaceful, sleeping Son.
They would have been more comfortable
if only I were there
with my tattered midwife's bag
so full of love and care.
Such joy it would have brought me
'twould cause my heart to burst....
if it had been my gnarled hand
that touched the Christchild first!
|
 |
TENEMENT MIRACLE
BY Charlotte Partin
When Tommy was six and Cindy was three
I knew there's be no Christmas tree .
Their tenement house was stark and gray...
Their mother was dead, their father ... "away"
Tommy needed shoes- Cindy, a dress
They'd get them from 'Good Will' , I guess .
Of course, there'd be no Christmas dinner ,
Those precious children would just grow thinner.
No mistletoe... no holly boughs...
not even fuel to warm their house.
A tenement Christmas is always the same
No money, no dignity- just grimness and shame
There'd never be happiness, never be cheer....
No reason to think things would change this year!
Tommy shivered when I tucked him in bed.
"No Santa Claus will come", he said.
"Poor little Cindy is only three
and she's never seen a Christmas tree"
He wiped his tears on a raggedy sleeve
and fell off to sleep that Christmas Eve.
--------------
During the night, a sound could be heard-
A rustling sound like the wings of a bird.
The wind rushed in at the broken door
Suddenly it was not cold any more.
In the darkness, there came a glow...
Iridescent like moonlit snow,
Two tiny kisses were heard and then,
The cold , dark blackness came again.
-----------------------
Tommy got up on Christmas dawn,
He stretched and gave a tired yawn,
rubbed the sleep from his hungry eyes
Then blinked in wonder and surprise.
He put his hands on his thin little hips...
An astonished smile crossed his lips.
"Cindy, get up, come and see"
Tommy called out happily.
-------------------
There, against the paint-peeled wall
was The Biggest Christmas Tree of all.
It shimmered with a radiant light -
All red and green and gold and white.
Upon the top, there was a star
Plucked from a Galaxy afar.
Beneath its branches, presents bloomed
Like Summer wheat in the afternoon!
and in the stove, a fire glowed
to warm their fingers and their toes.
A banquet table, too, was spread
With turkey, stuffing, fruit and bread.
Cindy wiped a glistening tear
still holding tight to brother dear.
in her eyes, there danced a light....
"Baby Jesus came last night"
she told Tommy breathlessly.
still fascinated by that tree.
"Oh no, Cindy, it can't be true,
I'm older and wouldn't lie to you.
The little Christ child wouldn't come here.
Not on His birthday, not this year.
There's many homes where He'd have gone
Where He'd be fed and He'd be warm"
"But, Tommy, He DID come, I'm sure
said Cindy, pointing to the floor.
"See what's shining over there?"
She pointed to the ragged chair.
Tommy looked and stared in awe.
At a tiny heap of Manger straw.
|
