Archive for July, 2014

to my grandson

July 27, 2014

I have given you my quiet moments,
those hours I need to feel myself again,
to organize my files, my desk,
and get ready to be with people,

because when you are here,
I am with people
every minute of every day,
because you have a way
of making friends,
it doesn’t matter where we are,
You are a natural extrovert,
You mingle with those you do not know,

while I would rather sit by myself,
meditate
and pray.

It is not that I am a pious nun,
but more that this is the way
I stay sane,

because people tend to drive me crazy,
and I need my time alone,

But I have given up this time, for you,
because you are the sweetness
of my life,
you are the future, and not the past,
you are the next generation,

and when my bones hold me up no longer,
and I am laid to rest,
you are the one to pray over me,
and hold me in your memory,

I count on you, to remember me
and place a flower upon my grave,
while I will promise to do my best
as your personal guardian angel.
cfblack 07-26-2014

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FaceBook World

July 16, 2014

I use Facebook more than most of my friends. The main reason is my 4 adult kids and their spouses and kids live in four different states, with my husband and I in a 5th. This is the easy way for us to communicate, share pictures and updates. If not for that, I probably wouldn’t be on it that much.

But I’m beginning to
really wonder
about all the videos, political rants, promotion of this or that cause, and most of all the flowery messages of love and self acceptance (self aggrandizement) that I see on there MORE often than any true expression of heart to heart discussion/consultation or real SHARING of who we are! What world do we now live in?

I really think people go to bed feeling like they have talked to their friends or the entire world, when in reality, they have re-posted some pictures and quotations that have been shared 4000 X already. Is this communication?

They feel they have “taken action” on some political cause they care about, after reposting some little square of a message about something they agree with. Really, I don’t know if that changes anything. Maybe instead we should go to a public meeting on the subject or at least take the time to let our Congressional Rep. know how we feel.

Why do we have this new NEED to feel constantly up to date with what everyone had for dinner? I would rather have a sit down dinner with my husband looking directly into my eyes, and telling me how his day went, what went wrong, what went right, what he’s been thinking about, who or what he wants to complain about, WHATEVER it is, it’s real communication directly to me ALONE. Not the entire world.

It’s no wonder my students have trouble sitting down and reading an entire article, or chapter. NEWS and learning is supposed to come in 2-minute sound “bites” just like every video post on Face Book.

So why am I posting this on a blog? (to be continued…)

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Dutch Windmills

July 13, 2014

windmill in netherlands
Dutch windmills turn forever in my mind,
Like Don Quixote, I am lost,

Lost in the memory of my grandma’s kitchen
Where I had 7-up and Dutch windmill cookies,
Listened to my grandpa’s stories
As he sat in the corner chair,

He joked and chattered
Of the old days,
of WWI, and the day he returned,
found his family at a brother’s wedding,
which had already begun,

Soon after, he and Cena were wed,
They rode to Chicago on a train,
Pictures of her posed in her finery
A fox stole round her neck,

The two of them born in America,
Their parents were the immigrants,
Conversations only occasionally
betrayed the language of their ancestors,

“Cup e te ha?” my grandmother would say,
“Would you like a cup of tea?”
But more often than not, my grandpa drank
the coffee he perked on the stove.

…

We drive to the entrance of “Dutch Village,”
a tourist trap in Holland, Michigan,
I looked forward to seeing the wooden shoes,
Blue Delft dishes from their home,

They want $40.00 for our car
to drive into this little Mall,
Come in, buy products from the homeland,
and ride a ferris wheel,

I look at my husband, astonished,
As we turn and drive away,
A flood of sadness fills me,
I want to take my grandpa’s hand,

I feel his spirit with me
as we leave this traffic jam,
I think of Dutch windmill cookies,
and realize, just how Dutch
I really am.

cfblack 07-13-2014

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Mid-Summer Night’s Dream

July 3, 2014

Mid-Summer Nights Dream
in mid-July
brings hope for new beginnings,
change just around the corner,
an end to disrespect,
never going back.

Mid-Summer Night’s Dream
in hot July
brings fireworks exploding,
freedom from oppression,
newfound friends and family,
walking a new path.

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