SEVEN GOOD READS – Rich Paschall

Last year I shared seven books I thought were “good reads.” Since you may be staying in more than usual due to the pandemic, you might want to consider a good book. Be sure to click “View original post” at the bottom to head over to SERENDIPITY for my choices.

SERENDIPITY - SEEKING INTELLIGENT LIFE ON EARTH

Books I Remember, by Rich Paschall

Recently a friend posted this to my facebook feed:

I have accepted the challenge from (a friend) to post the cover of 7 books I love. The challenge is one cover a day for 7 days. No explanations, no reviews, just the cover. Let’s promote literacy! Each day I will ask one friend to take up the challenge. Today on day 7 I nominate Rich Paschall.

My first reaction was to take a pass. I was thinking that I did not have the time for it. After looking over my friend’s choices for the week, however, I decided to give it a go. After all, I did not have to read anything new. I just needed to copy the text above, post the cover of a book and move on. I resisted all temptation at any explanation or responses to comments.

My plan…

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SUBTLE AND NOT SO SUBTLE – POETRY

April is National Poetry Month. I hasten to point out that this was written for SERENDIPITY a few years ago so that you don’t think I am advocating that you run down to the local coffee house for a poetry reading. Be sure to click on “View original post” at the bottom to head over to SERENDIPITY to view original poems.

SERENDIPITY - SEEKING INTELLIGENT LIFE ON EARTH

National Poetry Month, Rich Paschall

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There seems to be a day, a week or even a month for just about everything.  It is quite interesting the types of things for which mayors, governors and even presidents are willing to present a proclamation.  Did you miss One Cent Day April 1st?  No joke, it is a day to commemorate the history of the penny.  I guess it is not worth much anymore.

Certainly you did not miss out on the fact that April 1 is also Sourdough Bread Day.  No Foolin’!  The stuff has been around a long time.  I guess it deserves an entire day, especially when you consider some of the other things that get a day.  Perhaps I should make a point to buy some, or not.

Poetry gets all of April.   That’s seems fair when you consider the vast amount of poetry in the world that most students try to avoid reading.  Maybe…

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National Poetry Month Continues

Have you been reading your poetry?  Why not?  After all it is National Poetry Month.
Since you have not been out looking for poems, I see I have an effort from long past on the shelf. I am pleased to share it with you.  

You Were the One

You were the one
with the sparkling eyes
Alive whenever they
looked into mine,
But they no longer shine
like they used to do.
Now the just give me
the blues.

You were the one

You were the one
who smiled with ease,
Knew when to laugh,
knew how to please,
But you no longer smile
like you used to do.
Now it just gives me
the blues.

I still see the places
we spent so much time.
I still pass the inns
where we wined and we dined.
And all of these things
that remind me of you
Are all of the things
that give me the blues.

You were the one
with the tender touch,
That made me feel good;
that I wanted so much.
You no longer touch me
like you used to do.
It’s loss just gives me
the blues.

You were the one
with the right things to say,
That had soothed my soul
almost every day,
But your voice doesn’t sound
quite the way it used to.
The words no longer
ring true.

I still see the friends
we cherished so much.
I still have the gifts
you gave me with love,
But all of these things
that remind me of you,
Are all of the things
that give me the blues.

Copyright Richard Paschall

Photo credit: By Mike DelGaudio (Flickr) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons

National Poetry Month

April is National Poetry month.  Herein you may find my humble contribution, based on ideas taken from Shelley’s “Ode to the West Wind.”

The South Wind

Not from the West as they had said
Or from the North as we had thought,
But from the South you gently came
Bringing the comfort we have sought.

Your presence felt upon the earth,
Though you arrived and were not seen,
An angel on a cloud of hope,
In answer to a summer dream.

Oh hear – the wind is blowing,
A spirit moving everywhere.
Glad are we that you are near us.
Glad are we that you are there.

No storm’s commotion you announced.
No lightning broke the evening skies.
No rain had fallen down on us,
Or stole the glow of our sunrise.

The year has come alive with song,
And peace will rest within my soul.
A life of happiness abounds,
More precious than the world’s gold.

Oh hear – the wind is blowing,
with power more than it would seem,
Destroyer of the world’s pain,
Preserver of the world’s dream.

You waken nature from her sleep
With a voice that softly sings
The seeds we’ve planted start to grow
In the courage that you bring.

Play thy lyre, play they tune;
Let us hear your melody.
You drive away unhappy sounds
To bring us love and harmony.

Oh hear – the wind is blowing;
A message calls to you and me.
Listen close and you’ll discover
The trumpet of a prophecy.

Copyright by Richard Paschall

See also: “YOU, A LIBERATION LYRIC,” SERENDIPITY

Bel Kaufman

Bel Kaufman became famous when her 1965 novel Up the Down Staircase hit the bestseller lists.  It pointed out the challenges of being a teacher in the school system in New York City.  The novel later became a movie starring Sandy Dennis as the teacher.

At age 100 as an instructor at Hunter College she claimed she was too busy to get old.  She died this past week at 103.  Following is a tribute to her famous work that I placed here during National Poetry Month.  I think it is time for a replay:

Up the Down Staircase

Down staircase (Photo credit: quinet)

One way says up.
One way says down.
Go where you want to go
When no one’s around.

File these reports,
Attendance and tests.
Please, teachers, always think
Of doing your best.

Take on a class.
Challenge the world.
Share in the dreams
Of each boy and girl.

Up the Down Staircase, not down.
Down the Up Staircase, not up.
Let it be a challenge to you.
Never think that you should give up.

Up the Down Staircase, not down.
Down the Up Staircase, not up.
Shake up the school and enjoy every sound
And Up the Down Staircase, not down!

(Copyright Richard Paschall, music by Michael F. Teolis)

Based on ideas from the play Up the Down Staircase, dramatized by Christopher Sergel, book by Bel Kaufman.  The bestseller was also made into a 1967 movie.

Related articles

• Up the Down Staircase (piajingco.wordpress.com)

Touch Me

Touch me.

Touch Me

Hold out your hand and
Just touch me.
Do understand that
You’re part of my life
And part of my dreams.
The man you see here
Is not what he seems.
Reach out to me.
Show that you care.
Please touch me now
So I know that you’re there.

Be there.
Share in my life and
Just be there.
Stand next to me and
See what I see
And feel what I feel.
The world that I have
Can only be real if you
Give it some life.
Give it some soul.
Be with me now
So you thoughts I can know.

Know me.
Look at me close and
Just know me.
Know that I
Want you with me,
Yet I’m frightened inside
That the love that I have
Will be put aside.
Look in my eyes
For thoughts of a friend.
The message is there
That the voice can not send.

Tell me.
Reach down inside and
Just tell me.
Sing out to me
With the words I desire
And the words that I need.
Acknowledge my world
and set my soul free.
Won’t you be the strength
That I need so much?
Reach out to me,
So our worlds, they can touch.

Touch me.

Photo credit: By Mike DelGaudio (Flickr) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons

 

The fascinating construction of a life. Book review of The 12-Foot Teepee by Marilyn Armstrong

Here’s a review of Marilyn Armstrong’s book I thought you should read.

thismoonlesssky

 

 

Marilyn Armstrong is a widely read blogger on WordPress, and that’s how I became aware of her. I thought, ‘anyone who writes this well must have written at least one book.’ The 12-foot Teepee, in fact, is the name of the book and the basis of the blog’s URL, http://teepee12.com.

Tempus fugit, especially for daily bloggers. Marilyn tells me, in correspondence, that she’s no longer quite the same person as the one who wrote the book. As a former resident of Jerusalem, though, she says she once lived near a place where archaeologists found “a Canaanite temple, on top of which (pillar on pillar) stood a Greek temple. On top of which (pillar on pillar) was a Roman temple. On top of which was – you guessed it, pillar on pillar – a synagogue.” No doubt today’s Marilyn stands pillar on pillar on the one who wrote this…

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