Catalpa Summer

Catalpa blossoms carpet the ground in white;
A blanket of mist covers the damp June half-light.
Heavy buzzing bees balance atop seeming snow
Amidst a summer’s gloom, fragrant flowers glow.

Another day will bring a cloudless view;
Of sun, of sparkle, of spangles in varied hue.
The ferns will hold heads high within their glade
Determined to reach the light ‘ere it fade.

Observe the lesson from nature and take heed;
To be deeply downhearted there is no need.
As the earth is purified—made whole by rain,
The soul sinks in darkness to regenerate, sustain.… [Read More]

Roadmap

By Ilse Kramer

I have made my list.
I have plenty of Christmas love,
But not much money.
There are only so
Many shopping days
Left.
I will search for
A bell big enough
To tell the Glad Tidings.
I may pay Patrick
To play his most glorious carol
For my friend who is sad.
I shall give Jasper the Donkey
A roadmap
For his trip to the stable.
I am thinking of buying
A single white rose
For the child who plays Baby Jesus.
What do I hope to receive myself?… [Read More]

Shift II

By Susan Swain Tabor

So many choices
Hear fall’s voices

Blooms are falling
Change is calling

Summer’s echo
Repeats ‘let go’

Look around
Beauty abounds

Harvest season
Mighty pleasing

Frosty fields
Pumpkin yields

Snappy air
County fairs

Apples crispy
Horses frisky

Trees ablaze
Colors amaze

Leaves are falling
Rakes are calling

Look to the sky
Then decide

Slanting sun rays
Shortening days

Fall is knocking
Watch birds flocking

Bird migrations
Shifting intimations

Feeling colder
Growing older

Wood burning season
Excites the reason

Books are pleading
Begin reading

Sit by the fire
Intellectually inquire

Smell crackling wood
Change is good

So many choices
Loud are fall’s voices

Susan Swain Tabor is the great-granddaughter of Leonard Swain, Central’s first minister.… [Read More]

Ars Poetica

By Ilse Kramer

Poetry does not reflect a specific mood of the poet, rather he uses words to create a mood which every reader knows and understands.

While writing, the poet’s mind is taken upward to a level higher than his usual awareness.

He looks at happiness and sadness from the outside in.

In poetry, mind and soul are working together to express the truth and the essence of things existing.

The poet looks at the subject of a poem (a flower, parting, young love) and makes the reader see more than he ever has before.… [Read More]

B R O T H E R

By Ben Frazer

To be a violent man,
Takes an emptiness, a desolation, that is hard to understand.
So does it solve the problem,
To hunt him with a mob and,
Further his isolation?
In which case he becomes his own mental nation;
Takes the law unto himself,
The troubled man decides what is proper for his health.
But can he really know?
The man who drags violence in tow?
The man willing to hurt another,
To help him he must become your  brother.

C O U R A G E

By Ben Frazer

Civil disobedience
Portrays a sense of continence,
Which even the strongest must respect,
For the muscle doesn’t work without the mind,
The one with the brain leaves the brawn behind.
To take a violent man, and look him in the eye,
Takes a courage that no one can deny.
To then offer this man a hand,
And let him know you understand,
Is the final fatal blow,
That only the strongest can bestow.

Unusual Ways of creating poetry

By Ilse Kramer

Susan wrote her rhyming couplets about fall by jotting down the individual couplets in

various parts of the house. She then went from room to room, gathered up the pieces of

paper and fit them together as in a jigsaw puzzle.

The Poet Laureate remembers thinking about her leaky ceiling an and related problems

one night before going to sleep. The next morning she did not remember any dreams at

all but became aware of a brand-new poem in her mind. All she had to do was to write it

down and make two or three minor corrections.… [Read More]

Shift

By Susan Swain Tabor

So many choices
Loud are Fall’s voices

Susan Swain Tabor is the great-granddaughter of Leonard Swain, Central’s first minister. She is currently writing his biography. She enjoys having peacocks on her property in Foster, RI

Haiku on Summer 2010

By George Delany

This summer I stayed
Close to home and got to know
My dog really well