They nibble, take a bite here and again Going down by the slough, green and grassy They'll stop, something substantial for the cud Southern cows, babies in tow, males clumped
Happier today, fresh pasture beckons Carry their plate, it would be very full Mention food and they'll come from miles and miles Southern Baptist cattle, they like to eat
Bibles are on chairs saving their places Younger ones, a few older, have iPads Dollar for the plate, quarters for kids Preacher gets paid, tells their sins, Bible says
Another bite, piece of cake, coffee calls They've grazed enough, tummies full, chew their cud Listen to the preacher, God hating sin Sing songs, praise the Lord, Jesus in their hearts
- I'm linked with
Kerry O'Conner at the Imaginary Garden with Real Toads,The Tuesday Platform,
which on Tuesdays is an open forum.
- Bottom pictures
were taken 1-24-2016 at the Second Baptist Church, Houston, FM 1463 Campus
(link) where we had our annual "Great Big Breakfast."Turnout was great, we had 20 eight-foot
tables of food.
- I hope I'm not being sacrilegious here.Actually I do believe that all animals, God's creatures, will go to Heaven, they are eagerly waiting (Romans 8:18-25 [click here]).
- Top picture is a part of the flood control network for our subdivision, Cinco Ranch, in Katy, Texas (link). It was formerly farm land, rice fields and pasture land. There are no cows grazing here anymore. Note the 2.1 mile walking trail around this part of the network. We walk a mile or two, 30 minutes doctor's orders.
Where was she buried? ~~ a Poem for "Play It Again, Toads!"
. . We took him there to see
She's buried here someplace I think down at the south end, somewhere near the southeast corner There's no stone for her
That's all he said, it wasn't a lot We walked down that way, I read some names along the way Family names most all, quite a lot for ours But none were for her
She didn't have a name, Dad had said, and it's what we had heard We hung around for a bit, fairly silent
An old pickup stopped by on the road Elmer John got out and chatted with my dad About the same age they were
We stepped their way, I introduced myself to him Chatting some more, I told him why we had come Trying to locate Dad's little sister, where she was put
Dad was born a twin, both were preemie babies, each had weighed barely two pounds, only one had lived
They hadn't named her, just buried "Baby Girl" in a plot
Elmer was good news that day, he was caretaker now and had a map at his house
We went to see and sure enough, our "Baby Girl" was there on his map, about four feet from the road, forty from the east line
Armed with this information, back we went I was thinking of how we had looked there before but now he'll know
Dad was happy with what he'd heard He'd seen it on the page and walked the ground with his feet
He knew there wasn't a stone, but now he knew, for sure what he'd been told was right Settled with him
We were happy too. We didn't mention that the old dirt road was what showed on the map but since it had been widened and graveled
- I chose the third with Fireblossom. She had in 2012 published several pictures by Daryl Edelstein and had asked writers to write a poem using what came to mind after studying one of pictures posted. I chose the cemetery picture shown here as my top photo. You can read the instructions here: (http://withrealtoads.blogspot.co.za/2012/01/weekend-photo-challenge-daryl-edelstein.html)
.
- The lower photo is one taken a the St. John's church cemetery in London (U.K.) which I had usedin 2013, and is also a cemetery related poem:
- Fact check: My dad was born a twin, both together didn't weigh four pounds. They were born on Grandpa's farm and were kept in shoe boxes in the oven. The sister was not named, died at age one day, and was buried in a country cemetery, 'in the corner down by the road.' There was no tombstone.
- More: There was a map which showed the place, very likely now on . The caretaker's name was not Elmer John and he did not drive by. Mrs. Jim and I did take Dad to the cemetery. We also knew where the caretaker lived so we went to his home. He gave us a copy of his map. There is one other in the county museum. I have no idea of what all Dad was thinking but was aware and wanted to show us. Turned out we also showed him some details concerning his sister's burial place, the map.
- I'm linked with Kerry O'Connor at the Imaginary Garden with Real Toads, The Tuesday Platform, which is an open forum. Several are writing tributes to David Bowie, Alan Rickman,and Glenn Frey. These performers died just lately.
- I wrote a tribute poem here (link) for David Bowie on January 12, 2016. It is patterned after my reading and hearing his song, "Slip Away", which I have printed there.
- The newspaper article with picture was from The Houston Chronicle, January 19, 2016. Page D-4. - An 'earbug' is a "song that's stuck in your head that you can't get out for anything." (Urban Dictionary)
Tall girls make me tall girls make me nervous they really do. Make me nervous what is it with them that makes me this way you have no idea how it makes me feel me being with them it isn't parts they've got, nor what they haven't it's them closed elevators escalate
like a tall one who wanted me to join mensa with her intangible
Inspired by the visual art and videos of Maria Wulf by Margaret at The Toads. Also by my dog, Adi, and the loving attention she gives when meeting family. I hadn't realized it was "visual art" before. Adi died September 17, 2012 (link)
.
Katie loved her Papa so very much She remembers the day they went sailing Sailing to places they'd not been before Sail away, sail away, they sailed away
Regent's Park, whose innards were calling them They sailed to places, never seen before Edge of the world was just around the Horn Katie sang, "Sale away, sale away, now"
They talked to ducks resting on the island Papa talked the most, he knew their language Kate laughed and sighed, would this happen again Sailing away, where they'd not been before
Katie wondered now, cause Papa was gone Sailed away, he couldn't come back, he left She'd go there someday too, she'd never been They'd sail on the clouds, sail away some more
_ _ _ _ _
- Brendan's theme prompt was "Islands" - Marian's was open forum but she reminded the writers of the very recent death of David Bowie. I chose Bowie's song, "Slip Away" for my inspiration. I wrote it pretty quickly so please pardon me if I sounded too much like I only changed his words a little and wrote it down.
[click picture to enlarge-Back button returns]
- I promise it was not an adaptation, but what came to my mind after hearing and reading the words he sang. His character had played with his Uncle but in the end he was only remembering those times with his uncle. Right away I was reminded of the time KP (my young granddaughter)(link) and I had rented apaddle boat and went as far as we could go around Regents' Park Lake in London. I won't forget it, I hope she doesn't.
- Writing this made me sad. Even though I see KP now almost every day there will be a time when I will be gone. I hope we get together again one day when we both have sailed away for good. And where we will be we can sail again, some more, this time perhaps in the clouds where we hadn't been.
- My favorite David Bowie song iss "Ch, ch, Changes". What is yours?
. The lyrics, "Slip Away"
Oogie waits for just another day Drags his bones to see the Yankees play Bones boy talks and flickers gray Oh, they slip away
Once a time they nearly might have been Bones and Oogie on a silver screen No one knew what they could do Except for me and you They slip away, they slip away
Don't forget to keep your head warm Twinkle, twinkle uncle Floyd Watching all the world and war torn How I wonder where you are?
Sailing over Coney island
Twinkle, twinkle uncle Floyd We were dumb but you were fun, boy How I wonder where you are?
Oogie knew there's never ever time Some of us will always stay behind
Down in space it's always 1982 The joke we always knew What's a matter with you? C'mon, let's go slip away
Don't forget to keep your head warm Twinkle, twinkle uncle Floyd Watching all the world and war torn How I wonder where you are?
Today I'm linked with Marian at the Imaginary Garden with Toads, Music with Marian (link). Marian posted the video below, saying: "“February” performed live by the incomparable Dar Williams."
And for us to use the words of Dar's song for inspiration of what we write.
The lyrics to "February" as sung by her are found here.
The ring pictured is my current wedding ring given to me by Mrs. Jim. As you can see back then we were "flower children."
Notes: - Her instructions were the usual, "Write a piece of poetry or prose on a subject of your choice in precisely 55 WORDS." I did that. - Kerry's instructions for the PLUS were, "... to look back on the past year by viewing the winners of the National Geographic Photo Contest 2015. (Click HERE) The photos are offered as wallpaper, which may be downloaded free of charge. Please acknowledge the photographer on your site if you decide to use a picture from that source." - I chose Orangutan in the Rain photographed by Andrew Suryono (the second in the slide show at the Contest page, noted above).
You will have to make up your own mind. Just read here first, then visit my blogs and Jim1Jim1 YouTube to figure me out. (Some blogs are unlisted but are accessible if you can find them.)
