Christmas Memories

I have Christmas memories
both light and dark,
memories that spark
both laughter and tears.

I have Christmas memories--
melancholy echoes--
of a holiday
I no longer celebrate.


Visit My Portfolio @ Writing.Com

Autumn Memories: To Lion

On crisp autumn mornings,
Lion is a deep pumpkin,
Hi orange strips stand out
Like a jack-o-lantern
On Halloween night.

Visit My Portfolio @ Writing.Com

The Scent of October

Inhale the scent of October,
memories on the breeze of morning
as trees change from green
to hues of orange and yellow.

The scent of October,
a memory of my grandfather
raking and burning leaves
before the arrival
of the year's first snow.

Visit My Portfolio @ Writing.Com

Memories Underfoot

These are the memories that lay underfoot,
the memories I stumble over when waking up.
A black and white long haired cat,
whose purr vibrated the house
when he wanted to to toss him
a furry toy mouse.

These are the memories that lay underfoot,
the memories I scramble when waking up.
Taking eggs from beneath a hen
she set there glaring at me
she wanted to hat the eggs I know,
that that was never to be.


I, also, posted this in the journal Writing in Snow, under the folder Awardicon Items, in my writing.com portfolio. Visit My Portfolio @ Writing.Com

Summer Memories: Echoes

Fighter jets echo
Their contrails reflect the sun,
Tourist look up,
While locals smile
Remembering we live close
To an Air Force base

I, also, posted this poem in the journal Writing in Snow, under the folder Awardicon Items, in my writing.com port. I am Prosperous Snow.

Spring Memories

It was a new day
The wind whispered through oak leaves
Birds flew to their nests

 

This poem is, also, posted in Writing in Snow, under the folder Awardicon Items, in my writing.com port. I am Prosperous Snow.

 

 

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day! 

Please take a moment to pray 

For all those fathers and grandfathers 

Who have  passed away.. 

I don't remember much about my father because my parents were divorced when I was young. I remember a tall distinguished looking man wearing khaki work pants and a long sleeved shirt. Daddy, a blue collar laborer, worked at the Blackwell Zink Smelter before my parents divorced. Another think I remember about Daddy was sitting on his lap on Sunday morning while he read to comics to me. 

Happy Father Day! 

Take a few minutes to say 

Thank you to those fathers 

And father figures 

Who are still with us. 

Grandpa Newland, my mother's father, was my father figure. He was around almost all of my growing up years. Grandpa worked at the Blackwell Zink Smelter before he retired. I remember Grandpa sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee and rolling his own cigarettes. I also remember him showing us, my siblings and myself, how to fish and water ski.  

Thursday Thoughts on Life

Someone, I forget who, said that "life is a journey, not a race". I'm thankful for that because with my walker I can race very fast. Come to think about it, I never was very fast or athletic. I always preferred reading, listening to music, or picnicking as opposed to playing sports. I enjoyed going to The Lake ( don't know if it had a name because we always called it The Lake) with my grandparents and  swimming around their boat dock. 

I never was a very good swimmer, but since we always wore lifejackets I didn't think it matter. In the summer, we would go to The Lake where we would swim, waterski, and fish off the boat dock. That was fun, especially around the Fourth of July because we always stayed the night so that we could set off fire works. Grandpa always made sure we celebrated Independence Day. 

I was going to write more about how we celebrated Independence Day and other holidays with my grandparents. Unfortunately, I was interrupted by a telephone call. The call was about mindfulness and positive thinking. These two are important because without them a person will be unhappy and depressed all the time which has an effect on a person's health. Anyway the gist of the message is that this week I'm supposed to be mindful of what's troubling me. If I can do something about it, I need to. If I can do anything about the problem then I need to let it go. Letting go is an important  part of life's journey because it helps a person's physical, emotional, and spiritual health. 

Memories of my Mother

Jamál (Beauty), 19 ‘Alá’ (Loftiness), 173 BE - Sunday, March 19, 2017 CE about 12:32 PM Pacific Daylight Time 

My mother was born 96 years ago  today on a farm in Oklahoma. Mom grew up in a farming community. She met and married my father sometime during World War II. Dad was stationed at Nellis in Las Vegas, Nevada, and Mom worked at a maid at the county hospital here in Las Vegas. The hospital she worked at is now University Medical Center located on West Charleston Avenue. 

After my parents divorce Mom worked as a waitress at Bob's Grill in Blackwell, Oklahoma. We lived in a house on West College in Blackwell and I attended the grade school just down the street from where we lived. In Blackwell, we attended both the First Southern Baptist Church and the First Southern Baptist mission, which was located in the Smelter Heights. Eventually we moved to Shawnee, Oklahoma, where I graduated from  high school. 

We eventually moved to Las Vegas, Nevada. In Las Vegas, Mom worked at the Showboat Hotel Casino as a waitress in the coffee shop and later in the employees dining room. It was in Las Vegas that Mom and I heard about the Baha'I Faith and declared our belief in Baha'u'llah. Mom ascended into the Abha Kingdom on February 29, 2012. 

A Week Before Christmas

Jamál (Beauty), 8 Masá’il (Questions), 173 BE - Sunday, December 18, 2016 AD about 8.26 AM Pacific Standard Time 

It's a week before Christmas and all through the town 

People are madly driving around, 

Looking for presents to  place under the tree, 

While the memories of my childhood are returning to me. 

I don't celebrate Christmas anymore, but I do write stories, poems, and blog entries about the Christmases of my childhood and youth. Some of my poems are parodies of secular Christmas carols, while others contain Christmas memories that standout in my mind. At 69, soon to be 70, years old I have some wonderful, weird, and spectacular memories of Christmases past. 

Some of these memories are about my grandfather purchasing a live Christmas tree, while others center around the first artificial aluminum Christmas tree on the market. Yes, when I was a young person, Grandpa bought an aluminum tree. I'm not sure why he did, perhaps because Grandma wanted one or maybe because it was the newest one out. Grandpa always attempted to give Grandma everything she wanted. Grandpa also liked to have the latest technology and the aluminum trees were the newest Christmas technology at the time. 

I don't think I've written a poem or story around that aluminum tree. I'll have to do that this week. I usually write my Christmas memories the week before Christmas and the week after Christmas. However, I think I started earlier this year with some of my Christmas stories. Those didn't contain any of my memories and I have to write a couple that contain my memories of Christmas. 

Midweek Reflections on Painful Memories and Letting Go

'Idal (Justice), 4 Bahá (Splendour), 173 BE - Wednesday, March 23, 2016 about 3:26 AM Pacific Daylight Time

The writing.com newsletter arrived in my e-mail box this morning. I read the spiritual newsletter before doing anything else. The title of this week's newsletter is "Painful Memories". In the newsletter the editor discussed the importance of letting our past mistakes and stumbles go. One of the questions she ask was how do we deal with painful memories? My answer to this question is place the issue in God's hands.

Let it go
Place it in God's hands
The past cannot be changed

Letting go of painful memories, as was stated in the newsletter, is difficult. The editor suggested that prayer helps some people let go. I know that prayer works for me because I have let go of some excruciating with the help of prayer. I still have a lot of these memories left, but I am slowly letting go of the past and the pain.

Supplication Sunday: Prayer for Dealing Childhood Memories of Buillying

Jamál (Beauty), 5 Asmá’ (Names), 171 BE - Sunday, August 24, 2014 about 6:39 am Pacific Daylight Time

Dear Lord,

Please help me
deal with the childhood memories
of being bullied
because I wore glasses.

Please help me
spread the message that,
even at 67,
the hurt remains
a thick jagged line
of fibrous tissue
across my soul.

Amen.

Thursday Memories of My Mother

Istijlál (Majesty), 10 Asmá’ (Names), 170 BE - Thursday, August 29, 2013 about 12:25 PM Pacific Daylight Time

I suppose it has to be this way,
like clouds
moving across the desert
randomly hiding the sun
without cooling the air
or depositing rain.

The memories arrive
in groups
and flocks
remain for a few moments
and then depart
leaving behind
unshed tears.

On Thursday afternoon,
when the central air
hides lesser noises behind
air current echoes,
I remember
the song she sang
in her last years on Earth
I smile,
I cry,
I am grateful
for the sudden arrival
of memories.

Celebrating Naw-Ruz

Istijlál (Majesty), 1 Bahá (Splendor), 170 BE - Thursday, March 21, 2013 about 2:10 PM Pacific Daylight Time

I went to the Naw-Ruz celebration last night at the Baha'i Center in Las Vegas. The first person I thought about when I walked in the door was my mother. Mom always enjoyed Naw-Ruz celebrations. When ever Mom and I went to a celebration, Mom always smiled because she was so happy. I enjoyed the celebration, I know Mom would have enjoyed the celebration this year as she as well.

I know that I will never be able to attend a Holy Day celebration or a nineteen-day Feast without think of my Mother. I am amazed at how many memories of the Feast and Holy Day celebrations are center around Mom. I became a Baha'i several years before Mom declared, but the ones I remember best are those that Mom and I attended together.

I cried last night because I missed Mom. I will cry at other Holy Day celebrations and Feast because I miss Mom. I will continue to attend because eventually the tears will stop and all I will remember are the good times Mom and I had together.