Farewell to Genevieve Krueger and Her Life of Poetry and Books

On Saturday, September 19, 2015, family and friends of poetry gathered at McGroarty Arts Center to honor Genevieve Krueger.  There were photos, heartfelt tribute, poetry readings, and a mini-concert to celebrate the life well-lived of a poet and publisher who did so much to promote poetry in the Foothills.  Since Ms. Krueger has been so important for the Village Poets and the Poet-Laureate of Sunland-Tujunga program, we decided to honor her memory on our blog as well. 

Genevieve Krueger (1929-2015) was born in St. Paul, MN to Edwin and Marion F. Stromme. She attended Mechanic Arts High School and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul with a Bachelor's of the Arts degree in Library Science and English. She married James (Jim) A. Krueger, an aeronautical engineer and pilot, and raised six children in Sunland. She was librarian at the school & church libraries and was active in the local Friends of the Library. Once the kids left home, she joined Jim on his trips for the FAA and began collecting books she'd find while Jim was working. 

Her love and her deep knowledge of books prompted her to start her own out-of-print book-finding business. With an uncanny memory, she could often reunite a customer with a favorite childhood book even when its author and title had long been forgotten, using just a description of the cover or a memory of the story. It was a fulfilling career, and the friends she made lasted a lifetime. When her beloved Jim passed away, she began pursuing her passion for writing and hosted a weekly poetry group in her home, publishing several volumes of members' poetry. She earned Congressional honors as the 2002 recipient of the McGroarty Poetry Award, which led to the foundation of the Sunland-Tujunga Poet Laureate Award. donations in her name can be made to McGroarty Arts Center, 7570 McGroarty Terrace, Tujunga, CA 91042 or http://www.mcgroartyartscenter.org.

This obituary appeared in the Los Angeles Times and was published by the Little Landers Historical Society where she was very active.  It was quite moving to see and hear all the memorial speeches and presentations, including a music performance with an Irish harp, flute and guitar, by her family members. 

I have not known Ms. Krueger very well. She attended my "Passing Off the Laurels" ceremony when I became the Sixth Poet Laureate of Sunland-Tujunga in May 2010. She was also at some of my readings, where I appreciated her warmth and the connection we established in those brief moments after the poetry brought us together.  My memorial poem was, therefore, quite short:

For Genevieve

When sunlight is laughter is poetry is home

That's when you know Genevieve

When smile is kindness and words turn bright golden

That's when Genevieve is your friends

When poets and neighbors and in-laws and nephews

come together to speak of the one with the gifts

That's when you say Farewell to Genevieve

The moving spirit of the Foothills

The firefly of music and verse

(c) 2015 by Maja Trochimczyk

As a poet, Genevieve Krueger co-founded the Chuparosa writing group that met in her home, helping poets to polish their works, and hone their talents.  The Chuparosa Poets published poetry calendars and anthologies. One notable book was entitled "Alpha Waves" and consisted of poetry, short stories and art by three women, Marlene Hitt, Genevieve Krueger and Leslie de Forrest.

Here's her poem from one of the Chuparosa Calendars:

Color is What You Make It

Somedays 

my soul is  the color of seventy six trombones tromboning

Somedays 

my soul whispers with the gray wind-scarf

hiding from the sun-painter

under mountain ledges, inside caves

Somedays

my soul does an exhibition dance, a plaid one

over-and-under weaving

yellow, and orange, and red

Somedays

my soul bursts like confetti

and sparkles the world around me

Somedays

my soul blues and purples all day

muting and shading, softening,

cooling it

Somedays

my soul rests in pregnant whiteness

waiting for whatever color I make it

(c) by Genevieve Krueger

Time

Time 

slips like mercury

uncontained

into crevices

and cracks

        "Where did the time go?"

Time 

quarters

years

into weather-sized pieces

so we know whether to wear

ski boots

or bikinis

when we wake up in the morning

Time 

with the help of the sun

splits light

and dark

into

24-all-the-same-size

slices

and numbers them

one-after-the-other

Time 

teases me

by calling a song or a movie 

or a poem

timeless

      (which either means it does not 

       exist at all, or it is eternal - 

       what do YOU think?) 

(c) by Genevieve Krueger

Nonetheless, her family picked a different poem to share with the audience of the service, one dedicated to her husband, who died before Genevieve:

Easter Moon 

~ Jim - June 1924 - April 1985

In the spring of '85 Easter moon

rose above the mission roof

in a round glow of glory

we sat together on the weathered bench

our shadows side by side

I can't wait to be free from this body he said

I want to dance, to being again

to fly on my own

to be as I was meant to be

we watched that Holy Thursday moon

that spring solstice moon

announce the coming 

the going, the waning

I want to dance with you he said

under the moon and the stars

with wings he said

with wings I said

and our hands became our feet

and our smiles sang

in the warm and silent dark

(c) March 15, 2001, by Genevieve Krueger

Photos from the Memorial Service by Maja Trochimczyk

Village Poets Celebrate the National Poetry Month at the La Crescenta Library on April 20 at 2 p.m.



Marlene Hitt, Joe DeCenzo, Dorothy Skiles and Maja Trochimczyk at Village
Poets Reading from Meditations on Divine Names (Moonrise Press, 2013)

 In celebration of National Poetry Month, the Village Poets of Sunland-Tujunga will be featured at Los Angeles County Public Library in La Crescenta (2809 Foothill Blvd., CA 91214) on Saturday, April 20, 2013 at 2:00pm to 4:00pm.  The reading's program includes poetry by Dorothy Skiles, Poet Laureate of Sunland-Tujunga, as well as fellow past poets Marlene Hitt, Joe DeCenzo, Maja Trochimczyk, Mari Werner and Beverly M. Collins. There is no open reading.

 PROGRAM

• "Sensations" by Marlene Hitt, Dorothy Skiles and Joe DeCenzo read by Village Poets 
• Dorothy Skiles 
• Mari Werner 
• Beverly M. Collins 
• Group Reading of "Enrollment" by Joe DeCenzo 
• Joe DeCenzo 
• Marlene Hitt 
• "Remembering" by Marlene Hitt, read by Lloyd and Marlene Hitt
• Maja Trochimczyk 
• Group Reading of "The Veil, The Weave" by Maja Trochimczyk 

VILLAGE POETS

Village Poets of Sunland Tujunga is a group of former Poets Laureate of Sunland Tujunga who organize poetry readings in their community, write poetry, and publish books, making sure that poetry life is rich and vibrant in the foothills. Every two years Village Poets organize a competition for the Poet-Laureate of Sunland-Tujunga and, in order to involve the local community in the selection of its Poet-Laureate, establish a Poetry and Literature Committee of Sunland-Tujunga which selects the next Poet. Dorothy Skiles is the current Poet-Laureate in our community (2012-2014). Another important project of Village Poets is the Monthly Village Poets Reading at Bolton Hall Museum in Tujunga, CA. You can read about past and future featured poets on the Village Poets Blog. The upcoming readings are also announced in local "good news" paper - The Voice of the Village.

ABOUT THE POETS

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BEVERLY M. COLLINS was born in the small town of Milford, DE. She is the next to the youngest daughter in a family of five girls and grew up being absorbed by a love of music. Her family relocated to Central New Jersey ( Rahway, Plainfield, and Westfield). Having survived an uncertain early childhood which included losing two brothers in their infancy, the families frequent relocations, and witnessing her mother's turbulent marriage of repeated break-ups and reconciliations. Collins drew many conclusions about life that were later torn up and re-accessed. Using her love of music as medicine, she has arrived at a place of tender determination to brew a new stew of carefully selected life ingredients. She is one of the Prize Winners of the 2012 California State Poetry Society and her work appeared in the California Quarterly and Poetry Letter and Literary Review. Her work, "Child of Summer" is included in the Poetry Speaks! Year of great Poems and Poets 2009 Calendar and her poem "By Chance" appears in the July 2009 issue of Bits & Pieces, The magazine the motivates the world both are included in Quiet Observations, a collection of whimsical and thought-provoking poems that will lead readers to look at themselves and question their motives deep within. http://www.quietobservations.com/

JOE DECENZO grew up in Los Angeles and majored in theater and English Literature. From 2004-06 he served as poet laureate of Sunland-Tujunga. He produced the “Shouting Coyote” performing arts festival and was a Department of Cultural Affairs grant recipient. His published works include The Ballad of Alley and Hawk and the Study Guide and Poetry Primer for the same collection. He currently serves on the Sunland-Tujunga Neighborhood Council, the planning committee for the Village Poets of Sunland-Tujunga, and as Chair of Poet Laureate Search Committee.

 MARLENE HITT is a Los Angeles poet, writer and retired educator with local history as an avocation. She has served for many years as Archivist, Museum Director, and Historian at the Bolton Hall Museum in Tujunga. She is a graduate of Occidental College, a 26-year member of the Chuparosa writers and a member of the California Federation of Chaparral poets, John Steven McGroarty Chapter. Ms. Hitt served as Poet-Laureate of Sunland-Tujunga 1999-2001. Her poetry has appeared in several journals, three chapbooks and in local newspapers. She has written the book Sunland-Tujunga from Village to City and served as columnist for the Foothill Leader, Glendale News Press, North Valley Reporter and the Voice of the Village newspapers since 1998.

DOROTHY SKILES, who has been writing since her teenage years, graduated from Cal State Northridge and pursued a career as a welfare worker, policy and Human Resources manager and analyst for the County of Los Angeles (retired after 34-years of service). Dorothy published her first chapbook, The Sidewalk Gallery in 1979. Other chapbooks followed: Ear to Earth (1996), Spine Flower Blues (1999) - a collaborative by the Chuparosa Writers - and Riddle in the Rain (2003) - with Marlene Hitt. Over the last 15 years, Dorothy has been involved in the local poetry scene and her poems appeared in a variety of community publications. She is the current (7th) Poet Laureate of Sunland-Tujunga (2012-2014), a member of Chuparosa Writers, the Verdugo Hills YMCA Senior Advisory Board, the 2013 Bolton Hall Centennial Committee, and the Lutheran Church in the Foothills.

MAJA TROCHIMCZYK, Ph.D., is a poet, music historian, and photographer born in Poland and living in California (www.trochimczyk.net). She published four books on music, two volumes of poetry (Rose Always and Miriam’s Iris), and two anthologies (Chopin with Cherries and Meditations on Divine Names). Hundreds of her articles and poems appeared in English, Polish, as well as in German, French, Chinese, Spanish and Serbian translations, in The Loch Raven Review, Angie's Diary, Epiphany Magazine, Lily Review, SVGPQ, Cosmopolitan Review, The Scream Online, Phantom Seed, Sentiment, The Original Van Gogh’s Ear Anthology, Lummox Journal, and other venues. The Sixth Poet Laureate of Sunland-Tujunga, and the founder of Moonrise Press, she taught music history at USC and ethics in jail. She received awards and fellowships from ACLS, SSHRCC, USC, McGill University, Polish American Historical Association, and Poland’s Ministry of Culture.

MARI WERNER grew up in Santa Barbara California. She now lives in Altadena and makes her living as an independent technical writer. Her columns and articles have been published in a number of local and national publications including the Los Angeles Daily News and The Latest. Between paid projects, she’s working on a book that uses humor to make the basics and truths of economics accessible to ordinary people. Poetry and humor are Mari’s true writing loves, and she’s been writing poetry off and on since childhood. She’s been a regular at the Village Poets open readings since she started attending in May 2010. Though she loves nature, she finds most of her poetic inspiration in human life. Her plain-spoken poetry is often laced with a touch of humor or sarcasm, but beneath it is a hope for human kind and the creative energy in us all.

Poetry at the "Bite Me" Art Exhibition,McGroarty Arts Center, March 16, 2013, 2:00 p.m.

We are thrilled to invite all our readers and poetry lovers to a Special Poetry Reading by Village Poets held on March 16, 2013 at 2:00 p.m. at the recently opened

Art Exhibition "Bite Me"

at the McGroarty Arts Center

7570 McGroarty Terrace, Tujunga, CA 91042

The Village Poets Reading on Saturday, March 16, will feature poetry about food written and read by local poets: Dorothy Skiles, Poet-Laureate of Sunland-Tujunga, as well as Marlene Hitt, Joe DeCenzo, Alice Pero, Mina Kirby, Kathabela Wilson, Bryan Story, and Dr. Maja Trochimczyk. There is no Open Mike Reading on this day.

The "Bite Me" Exhibition, curated by Danielle Eubank, faculty member at the McGroarty Arts Center, is open daily from March 9 to March 22 from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., except Sundays. It ends with an Arts Fair on Saturday, March 23, 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

The following artists are included in the "Bite Me" Exhibition: Suzy Beal, Debby Beck, Sonia Mae Beduya, Dacia Calkins, Melanie Chapman, Sara Chao, Laney Clevenger, Michele Collender, Preston Craig, Chick Curtis, Miriam Dema, Babs Fine, Stacia Gates, Sheri Garwood, Barbara Harrison, William Hartdegen, R. Rene Hoffman, Mark Kennedy, Linda Kunik, Nancy LaCroix-Toyne, Evy Lareau, David Long, Sandra Low, Athena Mantle, Laura Marchetti, Barry Michlin, Lissa Mooney, Glenn Newland, So Jung Park, Rollence Patugan, Jess Perry, Ho Yan Pun, Linda Queally, Ainsley Rickert, Nita Sinaga, Yuki Toy, Laura Jean Toyne, Elizabeth Tucker, Colleen Underwood, Dawn Valli, Nicola Voss, and Jenny Ziomek.

McGroarty Arts Center. Photo (c) by Maja Trochimczyk

While discussing the theme, Curator Danielle Eubank asked: "What does food mean to you? Such a simple word, food, something we all need. At the same time it is a complex topic sparking social, political, economic, and cultural debate. Is it nutrition or is it a geo-political lever? What do you like to eat? What is real food? How does our culture differ from others? How do you eat? Is food simply for fuel or do you eat it for comfort, cultural holidays, and social gatherings? How is food related to body image? Is it a symbol of abundance? Power? Food affects the local and global economy through food trucks, genetic modification (GMOs), food production, farmers markets, food security, and homelessness. It impacts our health and society through diabetes, obesity, anorexia, bulimia, meals in schools, food labeling, organic, portions, food pyramids, fat, calories, carbohydrates, vitamins, slow food, hunger, and desire."

Dorothy Skiles read her new poem at the Opening of the Exhibition on March 9, 2013.

I LOVE MY ROMA TOMATO!

Canvas One

The eye of the artist
Is familiar with the oval
Shape, the texture of
A perfect Roma tomato –
Firm and ripe.
Its meat sweet, yet tart.
She lightly sketches
The tomato on canvas.
Satisfied,
The artist prepares
Her brushes and palette.

Canvas Two

With the flick
Of the her wrist,
The color yellow
Appears on canvass,
The artist envisions
The perfect omelet
Garnished with parsley
On a white ceramic plate.

Her favorite omelet
Comes to mind –
Filled with sautéed mushrooms,
Scallions, and red bell pepper.
A Roma tomato thinly sliced,
Topped with a sprinkle
Of cheddar cheese,
So pleasing to
The eyes and palate!

Canvas Three

A late afternoon sun,
Lights a dark corner
Of her studio, where
Unfinished sketches
On canvas lean
Against the wall, forgotten.
The artist thumbs through
The stack,and finds
A sketch of her mother.

A memory awakens…

Her mother in the kitchen
Bent over the cutting board
Peeling Roma tomatoes,
Scooping out the seeds,
Tossing garlic and onions
In the cast iron pot with hot
Olive oil sizzling!
Then come the tomatoes,
The oregano,
Basil,
Bay leaf,
Tomato paste,
A sprinkle of sugar,
A pinch or two of
Red pepper flakes
And some red wine.

Sauce simmers for hours,
The aroma rises from the
Stove, fills the house.
The artist’s lets these
Memories linger -
She can almost taste the
Savory red sauce!
Now, finished with the sketch
Of her mother, she picks-up
The brush and palette
And lets her hand
Glide across the canvas.

Dorothy Skiles
3/9/13
© Copyright 2013 by D. Skiles

(First reading: Opening of the McGroarty Arts Center Exhibition and Fair, March 9, 2013.)

Bite Me! Art Exhibition curated by Danielle Eubank, McGroarty Arts Center

GATHERING AT GALE’S

by Dorothy Skiles

~ to George and Dena

At half past seven…

Evening sky still

so young and so full

of the colors

of early dusk

that scatters its light

across the horizon…

            Meet you and Dena

            on your way

            to Albany.

You greeted us

with a familiar

embrace, as

we came up

the walk,

            and led us

            to our place.

            among family. 

Broke bread,

poured wine,

savored the

time together.

Conversation

sprinkled the meals  

of seafood stew,

pasta with lamb,

pork with rosemary,

potatoes and garlic.

And when we caught

our breaths, coffee and

bread pudding were

shared before parting,

before we’d miss you,

again.

Dorothy Skiles

Rev. 03/16/13

©Copyright 2013 by D. Skiles



American fruit tart. Photo (C) 2010 by Maja Trochimczyk

Marlene Hitt will read a wide cross-section of her food-related poetry. The first Poet Laureate of Sunland-Tujunga, she is the Director of the Bolton Hall Museum, and the driving force behind the Village Poets Monthly Readings held there. At the McGroarty Arts Center's exhibition we will hear her poems: Best of Bites, Mother's Day, Feast Day, Vegetable Booth, and Irish Moss.

Mother’s Day

Mother.

Mint leaves from her garden,
baby carrots, snap peas,
red-ripe tomatoes, and apricots...
As with paint pots before canvas,
her hands the brushes,
she arranges the color of the meal.
Monet’s gardens hang for centuries,
hers are devoured in an hour,
displayed only in memory. Meals.
Potatoes sprinkled with parsley,
lamb with Asian pear and kiwi salsa.
Chipotle-glazed apples,
chicken dumpling soup
with lemon grass and cilantro.
Vanilla bean souffles, flour pudding.
From her hands:
bok choy cooked crisp-tender,
haggis and ale, oatcakes and mutton.
Her treat, oreos, vanilla ice cream,
grilled cheese, strawberry milk.
Once, warm bread, this morning’s cream,
corn cob jelly, french toast,

Mother.

Acorn mush, piki and a sprig of sage.The artistry of the nurturer.

Mother.

(C) by Marlene Hitt

Marlene Hitt

Irish Moss - the Reaping

We waited for a full moon,
waited for midnight,
waited for the fullness of knowing...
Like knowing when
to harvest the moss.

Some searched in the morning
when the sun was high, the air clear,
when dew remains as it drops from grasses.
All of us wait
for the time of the reaping
of the carrageen
when the people gather,
reap together
to pick under midnight moon,
the seaweed,
which will become transformed
into the sweetest of puddings.
Magic, it is, the moss beside the sea,
the reapers, to thicken the pudding.

(c) by Marlene Hitt

Vegetable Booth

Apples are ripe on the apple vine,
carrots are grown through the roof.
I’ll grind some spinach to make some wine,
Yes, I’ll set up a vegetable booth with turnip flowers and melon juice,
a strawberry bunch tied with string
with chocolate prunes and sour vermouth
and a tart lemon pie. I will bring

cabbage leaf jam and zucchini jelly
a pot of squash and leek stew.
Bring your coins and appetite
be part of the vegetable crew.

(c) by Marlene Hitt



Maja Trochimczyk picking mushrooms in the Sierras, 2011

Maja Trochimczyk will read a sample of her food-related poems, including "How to Make a Mazurka" from Chopin with Cherries: A Tribute in Verse anthology published by Moonrise Press in 2010 to celebrate the bi-centennial of Chopin's birth.  The poem is about a Polish "mazurka" which refers both to a special cake for Easter and a dance that Chopin loved.  Maja will also read her poems "On Mushrooms" published on the Poetry Laurels Blog in August 2011 (reprinted below), and "On Eating a Donut at a Krakow Airport" published on the Chopin with Cherries Blog in January 2013.

Polish Easter dishes including the mazurka, 2011.

            

How to Make a Mazurka

Maja Trochimczyk

    

                         After Mazurka in A Minor, Op. 17, No. 4,

                        for my Grandparents, Stanisław and Marianna Wajszczuk,

                        who could play and bake their mazurkas like no one else            

          Take one cup of longing

for the distant home that never was,

one cup of happiness that danced

with your shadows on the walls

of Grandpa’s house, while he played

a rainbow of folk tunes

on his fiddle, still adorned

with last wedding’s ribbons

            mix it – round and round to dizziness

stir in some golden buzz of the bees

in old linden tree, add the ascent

of skylark above spring rye fields,

singing praises to the vastness of blue

            mix it – round and round to dizziness

add chopped walnuts, figs, dates

and raisins, pour in some juice

from bittersweet grapefruit

freshly picked in your garden

add dark grey of rainclouds in Paris

that took Chopin back to the glimmer

of candles in an old cemetery

on the evening of All Souls’ Day

            mix it – round and round to dizziness

bake it in the cloudless heat

of your exile, do not forget to sprinkle

with a dollop of sparkling crystals,

first winter’s snowflakes at midnight 

King Boletus (prawdziwek) found in the High Sierras, California, 2011.

On Mushrooms

Maja Trochimczyk

In the forest of Christmas trees for giants
I look for the shapes of mushrooms
I used to know well – hiding
In tall grass under the aspen,
Beneath piles of pine needles and bark
Prawdziwek – the true one,
The king of the forest, Boletus
Rules in unexpected places
Among birch twigs and Douglas fir
Osaki, Kozaki – his second-rate,
Still lovely cousins wait in the shade
Among manzanita, wild currants and fern.

I find bitter, colorful szatans,
Pretending to be true
Pale muchomory my grandma used
To kill flies in a glass filled with sugar water
Psie grzybki fit for a dog
That would not eat them
And twisted, tree-growing huba
I do not know how to cook.

My share of mushrooms?
The toxic lookalikes of true ones!
That’s all there is in this
Enchanted forest for me.

And this is why, my dears, I wrote
And you read Confessions
Of a Failed Mushroom-picker.



King Boletus (Prawdziwek) found in California.

On Mushrooms was first published in Poetry Laurels Blog; reprinted in The Voice of the Village in September 2011. 

McGroarty Arts Center, mushroom and cake photos (c) 2011 by Maja Trochimczyk.

Album of pictures from the reading is now available on Picasa Web Albums:

Village Poets at the Bite Me! Exhibition

Happy New Year 2013!



A New Year 2013

Just past the midnight hour -

New Year begins to flower

amidst high expectations,

cheers and celebrations!

We embrace the new with

resolve to keep promises

made, as days fade into

the patterns of our lives.

Dorothy Skiles, 12/28/12
7th Poet Laureate of Sunland-Tujunga

(C) Copyright 2012 by Dorothy Skiles

________________________________________________

Happy New Year 2013!

from Village Poets of Sunland Tujunga

_________________________________

Haiga "The Gift" (c) 2012 by Maja Trochimczyk, created for

a New Year Exhibition at the Japanese American Museum in Los Angeles

Ever calling - Never heard

Ever seeking - Never seen

Revealed

Detail from "The Gift" (c) 2012 by Maja Trochimczyk

___________________________________

New Year

           

A new palette, blue-white,

fresh brushes with no tint

That long season,

that whole year

blanketed itself

over the backs of colors.

Those were the yesterdays,

A child’s red dress

stitched by great-grandmother

shimmered on her skin

beside the greens of Maui’s sea

and lavender hills of sunset,

mixing up to something odd.

Tubes of paint lie fresh

not yet opened

You were dressed in black

smart and slim

every day of the year,

and now I wonder

what your face would say

if I would give you

a sun-yellow sweater

edged in gold.

The new season has begun,

bright, clear and golden.

These are the days to remember.

Burnt umber is a fine beginning.

Over that a springtime tree.

~ Marlene Hitt

(c) December 1999

___________________________________

Floating Holidays

The fourth Thursday in November

The last Monday in May

The twenty-fifth day of Kislev

The first Sunday

Following the first full moon

After the vernal equinox

The second new moon after the winter solstice

Unless there is an 11^th or 12^th intercalary month,

In which case it starts on the third new moon

I much more prefer the holidays that occur on a regular date

Especially those that fall on the 1^st

Steadfast and constant, dependable

Something you can anticipate

Primo, numero uno

Back to basics, square one

A built in chance to see things through clear eyes

A time to hail new beginnings

Salute the dawn of self improvement

And pose exalted on a rock of resolutions

A time to reel in that fish and rid the monkeys from your back

To wage battle against your apprehensions

Subdue your inhibitions

And vanquish your constraints

To finally stop procrastinating once and for all

Or least start thinking about it.

Yeah,

A clean slate

A fresh start

Another chance to finally get it right

Joe DeCenzo

_________________________

Time

A vacant pause while the traffic of your life speeds by.

Funny, time is really meaningless

Until you appreciate how much of it you’ve used.

It’s a shock when you first realize

You have fewer days ahead than behind.

Time is tender, so tender that we should cradle each day in our arms

So we can breath its presence, ignore the clocks and accept the moments.

We should smell and touch and taste each minute

Then set it free to make room for the next.

Time is opportunity,

The chance to experience all that occurs in an instant

Or endure the eternal echoing regret;

The chance to extract the sweetest citrus

Or let the rind grow sour at hand’s neglect;

The chance to arrest the fleeting glance

Or let the heart lay fallow on a field of indecision.

Time is for doing.  And those who do nothing,

Always seem to be running out of time.

Joe DeCenzo

_________________________

 

 

 

 

Happy Gnu Year 

By Mari Werner

The gnu is a large antelope that

inhabits the African plains

from Kenya to northern South Africa.

Gnus are grass eaters.

From the viewpoint of a blade of grass,

no gnus is good gnus.

However, gnus are very inventive.

They have developed a process

for making a special kind of paper,

which they call gnus paper.

They’ve also invented a particularly

effective broom. A gnu broom

sweeps clean.

Gnus have sophisticated social customs.

Some gnus prefer mornings

and some prefer evenings,

so they stay awake at different times

and watch over each other.

The evening gnus watch

the morning gnus and the morning gnus

watch the evening gnus.

Gnus have historically formed tribes,

the first of which was the Hoo Gnu.

Later came the Yew Gnu and the Aye Gnu,

which eventually merged to form the Wee Gnu.

Because of their many fine qualities,

gnus were recently honored by being

added to the Chinese zodiac.

The year 2013 was declared

the year of the Gnu.

May your gnu year be filled

with smiles and good gnus.

____________________________


Poems (c) by the respective poets
Photos (c) 2011-2012, by Maja Trochimczyk