Raisin’
Posted on | November 4, 2011 | 3 Comments
At our recent poets’ gathering at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva, NC, a quip passed around the room evoking painful laughter. It grew into a little poem to share with you.
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I raised ‘em best I could,
Did my best to hold ‘em to their promises,
Let ‘em play but kept ‘em at their chores.
Worried how they handled money,
Let ‘em make mistakes but told ‘em what they were.
Helped ‘em set the table at Thanksgiving,
Laughed with them while building Santas in the snow.
Yes, we travelled,
But I told ‘em not to speak with strangers,
Called ‘em back from edges of the scenic canyons,
Let ‘em know how many miles to go.
Showed ‘em how to operate their first computer,
Wowed ‘em with my knowledge,
Planted questions in their minds.
Now they are old,
They utter words I cannot grasp,
Their diapers sagging,
Mumbling in their memories,
Waiting to be raised again.
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William J. Everett
In my teaching career I authored eight books and numerous articles in social ethics and religion. After over thirty years of academic work — in Germany, India, and South Africa as well as in the United States — I wanted to turn my hand to a poetically written novel to probe the issues of ecological and human reconciliation.
When I am not writing, I create furniture for worship settings. For more about my work, go to www.WisdomsTable.net, where you will also find galleries of artwork by my wife Sylvia, whose ancestors were the original inspiration for Red Clay, Blood River. READ MORE...
Red Clay Blood River
Red Clay, Blood River is a story told by Earth about two brothers from Germany and an enslaved South African woman whose lives bind together America’s “Trail of Tears” and South Africa’s simultaneous “Great Trek” of 1838.
November 4th, 2011 @ 11:40 am
Wow! Translated into in earlier generation, your poem described my situation to a “T”! KMJ
November 4th, 2011 @ 4:32 pm
Thanks for another great poem
Lavilla B
November 4th, 2011 @ 7:01 pm
It did evoke a “painful laughter” in me!! Especially when we are changing diapers for our grand daughter!