Patchwork Prose and Verse
I watched a baby bluebird hatch the night of a poetry reading two weeks ago, and the trio has flown, except for one egg that never hatched. Joy and grief in the same nest. Life is like that. Laughter and tears, joy and despair.
empty nest that tiny bluebird I watched hatch two weeks ago has taken to skies one little sibling requiem in eggshell blue heavenly flight of its own
My father, Reverend Dr. Felix Haynes, Jr., shares his sermon from a few weeks ago, as he reminisces about Holy Ground and his Holy Land travels with my late mother, Miriam, where they walked the streets of Capernaum. They traveled with members of their church to the Holy Land several times, most recently when they lived on Hilton Head Island, SC in the late 1980s and 1990s.
ON CAPERNAUM The setting of today's sermon is Capernaum, a very strategic location for travelers in Jesus’ day, always bustling and busy. It was a well-constructed city built 200 years before Jesus’ birth. The structures were made of unique materials, stone and plaster. Capernaum is situated on the picturesque Sea of Galilee. Just to the north, an easy walk begins the grassy slopes of the Mount of Beatitudes where Jesus said, “Consider the lilies of the field…” I remember well our visit on tour. As you enter, you see tall trellises with Bougainvillea growing in splendid floral beauty. Miriam walked over for a close look at the deep red and purple blooms, her eyes sparkling in complete wonder. Laurie Atkins, a member of our church traveling with us, joined her and pondered the amazing beauty. As your walk the cobblestone streets, you observe the archaeological structures and artifacts that tell a story of rich biblical history. Capernaum is an education in the ministry of Jesus. The two most striking sites are the synagogue and the ruins of the home of Peter’s mother-in-law, where Jesus healed the palsied man. There is a bench on which Jesus probably sat when he taught at the synagogue on that memorable day. The flat roof was made of a sturdy mud-cement compound. This would be a “patio” where on warm evenings one could catch the sea breeze. Holy ground! Jesus considered Capernaum a “home base.” The house is a three-room structure, one for sleeping, one for cooking and eating, and one for animals. There was also a courtyard. Today, a church has been constructed over the ruins of this house with a centered glass floor area where you can look down and see the interior where Jesus healed the palsied man. When my colleague, Woodrow Hudson, and I entered that church, we had forgotten to take off our Atlanta Braves caps. The monitoring priest smiled and tactfully reminded us to take off our hats. Holy ground! I did a short message on the four friends who brought their friends to Jesus to our tour group. We moved about reflecting, remembering, and privately worshipping. I joined my dear wife who said, “This is one of the most beautiful and sacred places I have ever been.” Holy ground. And I stand there again every time I remember Capernaum. We got on the bus to travel north toward Mt. Hermon. This scene remains vivid in my mind: Laurie Atkins looked out the window at the flowers in the field on the mount of the beatitudes, still struck by the Bougainvillea of Capernaum and musing. Mr. Laurie Atkins was the town engineer of Hilton Head, responsible for irrigation and all the lovely landscapes in the main streets of Hilton Head Island in those days. He said to me, “I wish I could get truck loads of dirt from this place to take home with me.” Holy ground! I have truck loads of memory from Capernaum, …the most beautiful and sacred memories…”
I do not own the rights to the video below.
One of the greatest pleasures in my life here on the Johnson Funny Farm in rural middle Georgia is birdwatching from the comfy chair by the window in my reading room. Each spring, we deep clean our feeders and add a new type to the all-you-can-eat bird garden buffet. Two years ago, I added four clear acrylic window feeders – and now we each have a coveted seat right by the window, with a front-row view.
The American Goldfinch is one of my favorite visitors. We also have Cardinals, House Finches, Pine Warblers, Indigo Buntings, Black-Capped Chickadees. and different varieties of nuthatches. sparrows, and wrens who love these smaller covered feeders. When it rains, they like to sit “inside” like the kids in The Cat in the Hat and look out their “window.”
We can get so close to our birds that we can see if they are missing any feathers or tell if they might have been in a fight. If we had ever wondered whether birds have tiny teeth, we could tell that, too. We ease up to the window and take a mannequin stance, careful not to throw our breath fog on the glass. The reflection from the outside makes it easy to remain undetected for long periods of time, watching our little frequenters blissfully fill their bellies with seeds, nuts, and berries.
A wide variety of birdseed mixes brings the fanciest charms and flocks and hosts and herds (I’m including a fuller list of specific bird group names at the bottom of this post). I found a chart at Pike Nurseries that has been helpful in matching seed, feeder: and bird type to maximize our traffic. For example, I look at the foot perch size, the encased wire openings for smaller birds, and the opening sizes where the seeds come out. All of those, along with location of the feeders, make a difference in all the species we have been able to attract. When Ace Hardware has a Buy One, Get One Free sale on brand-name birdseed in my small town, they know I’ll be there to get a cart full.
And these winged angels sing the most glorious songs of food blessings to their creator that I want to name them all Little Tommy Tucker!
If your mother doesn’t have a window feeder for the birds, it would make a lovely gift next weekend, along with a variety of seeds! I’ll be filling my feeders and remembering my mother, who shared with me the sheer joy of bird watching.
List of bird group names retrieved from: http://birding-world.com/names-bird-groups/ Aerie of hawks Band of jays Bazaar of guillemots Bevy of larks Bevy of quail Bevy of swans (when in flight) Boil of hawks (when in flight) Bouquet of pheasants Brace of grouse Brace of pheasants (when dead) Brood of chicks Building of Rooks Bunch of ducks (when on water) Bunch of waterfowl Cast of falcons Cast of hawks Chain of Bobolinks Charm of finches Charm of hummingbirds Cluster of Knots Colony of gulls Colony of vultures Company of parrots Squadron of pelicans Company of widgeon Concentration of kingfishers Congregation of plovers Constable of Ravens Convocation of eagles Covert of coots Covey of grouse Covey of partridge Covey of ptarmigan Deceit of Lapwings Descent of woodpeckers Desert of Lapwings Dissimulation of birds Dole of doves Drift of quail Dropping of ducks (when on water) Exhaltation of larks Fall of Woodcock Flamboyance of Flamingos Flight of cormorants Flight of doves Flight of Goshawks Flight of swallows Fling of Dunlins Flock of birds Flock of birdwatchers Flush of Mallards Gaggle of geese (when on ground) Gathering of birdwatchers Gulp of Cormorants Herd of cranes Herd of Curlews Herd of wrens Horde of crows Host of sparrows Huddle of penguins Jubilee of eagles Kettle of hawks Kit of pigeons (when in flight) Knob of waterfowl Murder of crows Murmuration of Starlings Muster of Peacocks Muster of turkeys Mustering of storks Mutation of thrushes Nye of pheasants Ostentation of Peacocks Pack of grouse Paddling of ducks (when on water) Parliament of owls Parliament of Rooks Peep of chickens Chattering of Choughs Pitiousness of doves Pitying of turtledoves Plump of waterfowl Plump of wildfowl Quarrel of sparrows Raft of coots Raft of ducks (when on water) Raft of loons Rafter of turkeys Richness of Purple Martins Rookery of penguins Scold of jays Sedge of Bitterns Siege of Bitterns Siege of cranes Siege of herons Skein of geese (when in flight) Sord of Mallards Spring of teals Stand of flamingos Strand of Silky Flycatchers Sute of Mallards Team of ducks (when in flight) Team of geese (when in flight) Tiding of magpies Tittering of magpies Trembling of finches Trip of Widgeon Trip of wildfowl Trouble of hummingbirds Unkindness of Ravens Volery of birds Walk of snipe Watch of nightingales Wdge of swans (when in flight) Wedge of geese (when in flight) Whisper of snipe Whiteness of swans (when in flight) Wing of plovers Wisdom of owls
Today our host for #VerseLove is Chea of Texas, who inspires us to write poetry with regional dialect ~ to tell something as it really happened, in our home language. You can read her prompt and the poetry of others here. I’m sharing a phone conversation with my dad one early morning not too long ago and wrote it in prose during the Slice of Life Story Challenge.
Hopin' Folks Out my phone rings early Dad I have a story I need to tell while it’s fresh on my mind before I forget I grab my pen It was back in the old days in rural Georgia when I was preaching at Ohoopee This was down around Highway 19 where you’d go through Wrightsville meander over to Tennille and then head on out to Sandersville a sea of cotton fields roads all red clay Ohoopee was a church of miracles a cured drunk who loved the Lord led the singin' “On Jordan’s Stormy Banks,” only he pronounced it Jurdan’s. and he weren’t wrong. a fellow named Noah in the church needed help finding where to dig his well even with a name like Noah back in those days people were people folks’ existence was all about helpin' their neighbors out now old Elvis heard about it “I’m coming over to hope you out” I went over there too to see Elvis hope his neighbor out Elvis said he had a divinin' rod – a hickory branch – to find water Elvis walked it tremored I saw it with my own eyes they dug that well right there they called this place Possum Scuffle back over in Harrison by Raines Store over yonder by Deep Step and Goat Town by Margaret Holmes's cannery ~ black eyed peas and collards. in Acts 27 Luke is in a ship in a storm using stabilizing ropes ~ also hawsers or helps a help is a hope rope on land or at sea it's Biblical, Kim now you remember that write it down
Darius Phelps of New York is our host today for Day 21 of #VerseLove at http://www.ethicalela.com, inspiring us to write poems of grief or disillusionment. You can read more about Darius and read his full prompt here. He mentions that the ancient Chinese believed that by burning the house down when relatives died, it would send the house to the place where they were so they could have their homes beyond this life. I reflected for a while on that idea this morning, even chuckling about the Calgon laundry whitener that I remember commercials for as a child – – an Asian actor would come into the frame holding a box, saying, “Ancient Chinese Secret” when someone wondered about how the clothes got so clean. I think the ancient Chinese had a lot of things right. Come join us and read today’s poems.
Up in Flames ^ Choose One: House or Legacy? ^ those ancient Chinese had it right: burn the house down! strike up the torch flame! better the house go up in smoke than the siblings killing each other who gets the dwelling? who gets the crystal timepiece? who "gets" anything? executor’s call: who gets to make decisions? who denies morphine? which one plans all meals? oh, but NO SUGAR, stage 4 cancer patient fat?!? what is this fresh hell?? give Mom a damn M&M! stop controlling LIFE! inheritance sucks some get fortunes, some get F(ORK$#) who "gets" anything??! those ancient Chinese had it right: strike the match and walk in peace from fire
Fran Haley of North Carolina is our host today at http://www.ethicalela.com for Day 18 of #VerseLove, inspiring us to write a triolet. You can read her full prompt here and see the form for this 8-line short form with rhyme scheme. Fran is a fellow teacher, a bird enthusiast, poet extraordinaire, and she named one of my plants on my front porch: Leafy Jean (which led me to a name for the other plant – Leafy’s brother, Leon Russell – – children both buried in a cemetery Fran visited as a child). Today I am keeping yesterday’s blog writing topic with the Rose of Jericho and changing it to a poem – a triolet!
Choose to Live! Rose of Jericho ~ brittle, brown, dry unfurl your fingers! choose to live! mixed tears of grief and joy I cry Rose of Jericho ~ brittle, brown, dry my gaze drifts heavenward, eyes to the sky reassurance of faith and hope you give Resurrection plant ~ tears green you, oh my! unfurl your fingers! choose to live!
Susan Ahlbrand is our host today for Day 16 of #VerseLove. She inspires us to write poems about friendships that didn’t work out for whatever reason, whether there was a move or a disagreement or a divorce or another form of distancing. You can read her full prompt here. I wrote about a time I left a church because the views became too radical to accept.
Blind Ewe so you’re holier. new pastor said NO WOMEN his blind sheep believed not one stood with me not one challenged his iron fist not one saw the wolf wife who rarely spoke children white as untanned lambs always in the house I took a firm stand when I saw the truth. I left that mutton pasture one by one others did too, down to a dozen “disciples” who stayed brainwashed radicals worshipping legalism no grace, mercy, love so you’re holier? is that what you call yourself? guess again, girlfriend. Ewe blind
Allison Berryhill of Iowa is our host today for Day 15 of #VerseLove at http://www.ethicalela.com. She inspires us to write poems about what we missed, or what could have been. You can read her full prompt here.
What You Missed
what you missed
you’d have never seen anyway
the way he looks like his mother
the way he casts his line
the way he asks with concern
the way he answers with passion
the way he doesn’t miss a beat
the way he marches to his own
the way he loves animals like Mimi did
the way he rescues turtles
the way he named his baby duck Steve
the way he knows departure
the way he feels betrayal
the way he talks all scholarly
the way he tells books start to finish
the way he hugs his cousins
the way he thinks in waves of blue
the way he ponders nothing new under the sun
the way he sees the world
the way he doesn’t see the world
five years from now
he’ll carry fewer memories of you
because you were absent
off praying for all the others
at a ballpark
again forgetting your own
that depth finder could see fish
but will never show the depth of
what you missed
Today’s host for Day 10 of #VerseLove at http://www.ethicalela.com is Brittany Saulnier, who inspires us to write whimsical science poems. I chose to focus on outdoor science – nature and all its discovery and wonder about the world! I have just gotten my flower presses out of the old barn over the weekend and can’t wait to gather flowers and greenery to press on a long walk one afternoon this week. So much of science is soothing, just pure medicine for the soul. Brittany’s gift of a prompt that invites peace is particularly appreciated on this Monday back to work after spring break. Today, my poem is a first-word-Golden Shovel Tanka (5-7-5-7-7) string. I took my striking line as a quote from a birding journal by Vanessa Sorensen: “Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Bloom! adopt a mindset~ the practice of noticing pace your amazement of observing more fully nature: less is so much more her covert moments secret discoveries ~ what is our big hurry? its blessings beckoning us patience blooms on every stem
I’m hosting #VerseLove today at http://www.ethicalela.com, where we write in verse everyday throughout the month of April to celebrate National Poetry Month. You can read the prompt and the poems shared by others here, or simply see the prompt below:
Inspiration
One of the most uplifting parts of a writing community is getting to know other writers, feeling a connection, and developing a sense of belonging as others welcome you to the group and encourage you in your writing journey. This is my fifth year writing with #VerseLove after meeting Dr. Sarah Donovan at NCTE. Today, let’s introduce ourselves through a Weekend Coffee Share poem, which can take the form of a list poem or a prose poem – or any other structure that you choose. Pour a cup of coffee and come sit down. You may have seen other bloggers writing as part of the Weekend Coffee Share, a powerful weekend writing topic developed by a blogger whose idea inspired this prompt. Raising a mug to Natalie!
Process
Pour yourself a cup of coffee or tea, and imagine being in a small coffee shop among friends. We’ve all strolled in from the cold, damp drizzle and are eager to meet you for the first time – or to catch up with you since last time. Pour us a cup, too, and share something about yourself with us. Invite us into your world, friend! Let your first line be If we were having coffee (or tea, or wine…)….
Oh – and share a picture of yourself with your cup in the comments if you wish!
Kim’s Poem
If We Were Having Coffee
If we were having coffee,
I’d tell you that #VerseLove changed my life
because of you.
Here, come closer and lean in.
Do you like light roast or bold?
Let me pour you a cup. Cream? Sugar?
If we were having coffee,
I’d ask you about your favorite poets
and tell you that as a child,
I spent hours, days, weeks, years reading
Childcraft Volume 1 Poems and Rhymes
and was twice gifted A Child’s Garden of Verses
for Christmas from relatives ~ in 1971 and 1972
and have been hooked on poetry since then.
If we were having coffee,
I’d tell you that I’m a bit of an introvert,
so I prefer writing over talking,
and that over the years, I have come to know
you through our writing ~ so I call you my friend.
I’ll be talking to someone somewhere and you’ll come up.
You always do.
When someone tells me they like Thai food, I say,
No way! One of my writing friends is in Thailand right now!
And when someone hums a tune from CATS, I say,
Girl! One of my writing friends sent me
Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats last year.
And when someone says they’re going to the west coast, I say,
Have fun! I was just there with my writing friends in November.
If we were having coffee,
I’d raise my mug to you and say,
Cheers to you, friend! Welcome to #VerseLove 2023!
And I’d snap a picture, like this…
and invite you to do the same!
Common Threads 