poetry | dual personalities

July 24, 2024

“Have you not known? Have you not heard?”

by chuckofish

I think I mentioned that I fell behind in my daily Bible reading over the past two weeks, but I am catching up. Yesterday I was rewarded with Isaiah 40-43, which covers a lot of familiar territory.

Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
    the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
    his understanding is unsearchable.
²⁹He gives power to the faint,
    and to him who has no might he increases strength.
³⁰Even youths shall faint and be weary,
    and young men shall fall exhausted;
³¹but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
    they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
    they shall walk and not faint.

(Isaiah 40:28-31)

I was also reminded of last year’s VBS where the kids memorized the following:

Fear not, for I am with you;
be not dismayed, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

(Isaiah 41:10)

And these verses were important in Pilgrim’s Progress:

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
    I have called you by name, you are mine.
²When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
    and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
    and the flame shall not consume you.
³For I am the Lord your God,
    the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.

(Isaiah 43:1-3)

These are all great verses, especially when we are in need of hope and comfort.

This article gives solid advice for when your mind gets stuck in unproductive places.

And I really liked this one about prayer postures in the Bible. I need all the help I can get in increasing my prayer time. I tend to “remember [God] upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night.” (Psalm 63:6) My wandering mind betrays me during the day when I try to focus. I can do better.

Meanwhile I am rearranging my office and I moved a small bookcase. The question arises: how many copies of the BCP do I really need?

One?

6 Comments

July 4, 2024

For what avail the plough or sail, Or land or life, if freedom fail?

by chuckofish

Happy Independence Day!

We grant no dukedoms to the few,
We hold like rights and shall;-
Equal on Sunday in the pew,
On Monday in the mall.
For what avail the plough or sail,
Or land or life, if freedom fail?

The noble craftsmen we promote,
Disown the knave and fool;
Each honest man shall have his vote,
Each child shall have his school.
A union then of honest men,
Or union nevermore again.

–Ralph Waldo Emerson, from “Boston”–read it here.

Today in St. Louis we are also celebrating the 150th anniversary of the opening of Eads Bridge, a true architectural marvel. It was the first bridge in St. Louis, the first in the world to use steel and the first in the U.S. to use caissons for its piers.

At the time there were many doubters who were concerned about the safety of the structure, but people were reassured two weeks before the grand opening by the sight of an elephant lumbering across the wagon deck. It was an unscientific test, but in the 19th century many people believed elephants knew instinctively not to set foot on unsound structures. (This made me think of that famous scene in Gunga Din (1939) when the elephant is willing to step onto the rickety bridge to follow Cary Grant…)

Needless to say, Eads bridge was sound…

Well then, exactly at daybreak on July 4, 1874 on a clear and sunny day, a thirteen-gun salute was fired to honor the original colonies of the United States. At 9 a.m. 100 guns were fired, fifty on each side of the the Mississippi River, to signal the beginning of a huge parade.

“A link of steel unites the East and West” was painted on one side of the bridge’s main arch. On the other side, decorated with evergreens, appeared a fifty-foot-high portrait of the man of the hour, James B. Eads. A display of fireworks completed the evening festivities.

I hope you all have fun plans to celebrate Independence Day with friends and family. If not, read some Emerson or Whitman, watch an old movie like Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) or Alleghany Uprising (1939)…

What is the meaning of this intrusion?

…Read Esther Forbes’ fine book Paul Revere and the World He Lived In or Eric Metaxas’ If You Can Keep It: the Forgotten Promise of American Liberty or David McCullough’s 1776.

“The year 1776, celebrated as the birth year of the nation and for the signing of the Declaration of Independence, was for those who carried the fight for independence forward a year of all-too-few victories, of sustained suffering, disease, hunger, desertion, cowardice, disillusionment, defeat, terrible discouragement, and fear, as they would never forget, but also of phenomenal courage and bedrock devotion to country, and that, too they would never forget.”

Be proud. Be loud. Open the windows and blast your neighbors! That’s what we did when I was growing up. We had this LP and this was one of my favorite pieces:

God bless America!

2 Comments

July 3, 2024

Come and see, look on this mystery

by chuckofish

It is a sultry day; the sun has drunk

The dew that lay upon the morning grass;

There is no rustling in the lofty elm

That canopies my dwelling, and its shade

Scarce cools me. All is silent, save the faint

And interrupted murmur of the bee,

Settling on the sick flowers, and then again

Instantly on the wing.

–William Cullen Bryant, “Summer Wind”–read it here.

Yesterday I had lunch with two old (and much older than I) friends at the fancy retirement home where they live. It is always a delight to meet with them and talk about what we are reading, re-reading and what we are finding to watch on TV/streaming. One of them walks on the treadmill every morning and recites the Gettysburg Address from memory. I told him about the guy I used to know who recited the lyrics to Abide With Me while maintaining a plank position every morning. We avoid discussing politics but one of them said that the (very liberal) interfaith group he was in fell apart this year following the events of October 7. This is troubling, but no surprise to me I said. It is not the evangelicals the Jews have to worry about. I have no doubt that I am somewhat of a mystery to them, but we respect each other, and yes, even love each other. And that is the way it should be.

So meet an old friend for lunch, read some poetry out loud, memorize something! And here’s a hymn that we heard in church on Sunday that the boy really liked:



Sing to Jesus, Lord of our shame
Lord of our sinful hearts
He is our great redeemer
Sing to Jesus, honor His name

(The painting above is by Winslow Homer, 1878)

4 Comments

July 2, 2024

“The vast space of the sky overhead so clear, and the buzzard up there sailing his slow whirl in majestic spirals and discs”*

by chuckofish

We enjoyed another beautiful summer day yesterday with low humidity and a high of 81 degrees. Zut alors! Practically unheard of for our part of flyover country in July!

I ran errands and busied myself getting ready for the 4th of July. By then it will have warmed up considerably and will do doubt be raining. But c’est la vie.

I thought this video about vultures was great. They are indeed one of God’s ugliest creations, but also one of the most amazing. (There is a lesson there.) We see them frequently around here, sailing their slow majestic spirals, but I have never seen one up close (except at the zoo). Once when crossing the Missouri River we saw a tree filled with them on the riverside.

Never stoops the soaring vulture
On his quarry in the desert,
On the sick or wounded bison,
But another vulture, watching
From his high aerial look-out
Sees the downward plunge, and follows;
And a third pursues the second,
Coming from invisible ether,
First a speck, and then a vulture ,
Till the air is dark with pinions.

–Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, from “Hiawatha”

Sometimes vultures make for a scene of horror, such as in the movie The Four Feathers (1939). And sometimes they save the day as in the book The Searchers by Alan LeMay.

Meanwhile, Idabelle learns how to water the porch…

…and the Hibiscus is ready to pop!

Enjoy the day!

*Walt Whitman, from “A July Afternoon by the Pond”

4 Comments

June 26, 2024

She’s borne the burden and heat of the day

by chuckofish

Time continues to march on and we are nearly halfway into the year.

It is hot here, and the hostas are looking pretty droopy and sad. The lawn, despite copious watering, is burning up. But the day lilies are amazing as usual–they love the heat! They scoff at the lack of rain. They just keep going.

(Photos taken from my car!)

This old plant is native to Asia and arrived on our shores early during the colonial period from Europe. It was so popular, and “passed along” from so many gardeners to their neighbors, it now grows happily from coast to coast, often along roadsides. When wagon trains went west, the old orange day lilies rode along with many a frontier gardener. I think that’s great.

Everyone should have some day lilies in their yard!

Today we remember my mother who died on this day in 1988. I can’t believe I have lived over half my life without her. Here she is with her baby sister Donna circa 1934.

Weep not, weep not,
She is not dead;
She’s resting in the bosom of Jesus.
Heart-broken husband–weep no more;
Grief-stricken son–weep no more;
Left-lonesome daughter –weep no more;
She only just gone home.

— from “Go Down, Death” by James Weldon Johnson (who also died on this day in 1938)

Amen.

3 Comments

June 13, 2024

Gaily bedight

by chuckofish

So I am off to Detroit this morning and points north. As usual, I am traveling alone (the OM is going to a conference in Nashville), but I tell myself:

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes
You can steer yourself
Any direction you choose.
You’re on your own. And you know what you know.

I can handle it, right? I am thankful that my brother will be there to meet me.

See you soon!

P.S. Happy Father’s Day to all you good fathers!

3 Comments

May 28, 2024

Till the ductile anchor hold

by chuckofish

Yesterday, of course, was a beautiful sunny day with nary a cloud in the sky. We had no plans other than cleaning up from the day before. C’est la vie.

Yesterday was also the birthday of Walt Whitman, so I read some poetry.

And here’s Bob Dylan’s hat tip to W.W.:

Have a good (short) week!

4 Comments

May 15, 2024

This and that

by chuckofish

This special art project at Katie’s pre-school seems very relevant for the week we are having in flyover country.

I watched the finale of the Westminster Dog Show last night–4 hours of over-groomed canines. The Westie did not win the terrier group.

I was not too taken with any of the contenders for Best in Show…

…and the winner was the crowd favorite (and my least favorite), the miniature French poodle–zut alors! I will refrain from commenting further.

It was fun to watch all the dogs and their special handlers–one fell flat on his face and caused quite an uproar, but his Welsh Terrier kept his cool.

And I liked this essay about Holy Ground. “He abides. On this narrow way, His presence makes all the difference, and this holy ground itself sings like a toddler in the backseat: God is with us.”

Have a good Wednesday. Pet a dog if you get the chance.

4 Comments

May 14, 2024

I see the turning of the page

by chuckofish

Welcome to flyover land: cicadas on gone-by Iris. Yuck-o. When you walk outside the cicada din is like something out of a SciFi movie. And we haven’t even reached our peek. I was going to take a picture of our front porch, but it is too gross. Use your imagination. (Here’s a photo from Fox2.)

The Iris were insane this year, but I have to say, I like the plainer ones. Some of them verge on the vulgar:

They are the dancehall girls of flowers.

I am not ungrateful–for weeks we have all been enjoying a really beautiful spring where the grass is green and lush and the flowering trees lovely and fragrant. But there are downsides to May. Cicadas, flash flooding and tornadoes to name a few. But we count it all joy when we meet trials of various kinds.

Indeed, we soldier on and enjoy the the upsides of May. It is a great month for birthdays! No one in my family has a May birthday, but lots of my favorite people do, including the Big Four: Bob Dylan (May 24), Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25), John Wayne (May 26), and Walt Whitman (May 31).

There are also these guys: Gary Cooper (May 7), Henry Fonda (May 16), James Stewart (May 20), Laurence Olivier (May 22), and Clint Eastwood (May 22).

So many reasons to throw a party! So plan accordingly.

After you’ve deadheaded all those iris blooms, take a break and watch an old movie, listen to an old song or read an old poem…

I love apocalyptic Bob.

4 Comments

May 10, 2024

“A wreath of rhymes wherewith to crown your honoured name”*

by chuckofish

It’s finally Friday and the sun is out, hopefully to stay through the weekend. Do you have something planned with your mother/grandmother/daughter/sister/aunt/family friend to celebrate Mother’s Day on Sunday?

If so, that’s very nice, but you could also just sit quietly and look out the window and think about all those ladies who have meant so much to you over the years and about those ladies who meant so much to them.

My mother with her mother c. 1927…