Many Kinds of Grief

A Gift Returned

By Glenda C. Beall

 

I hear him singing on the deck,

That rich baritone that won me

the first day we met.

Like Sinatra’s fans I mellowed

as I listened to those tones.

 

Music-making was his talent

taken for granted like breathing

and the beating of his heart until

the surgeon’s knife nicked a nerve.

 

We both wept, losing more

than if he’d lost a limb.

His voice is who he is,

has always

been.

 

The purple wreath of grief hung

over us a year or more until

one day the notes rang true

above the strum of his guitar,

a lovely instrument restored.

Dana Wildsmith reading and singing - makes you laugh and sing with her

Delightful writer, Dana Wildsmith from Bethlehem, Georgia loves to sing as well as she loves to write. See her on this video. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jG-fLs0KLY

A reviewer says of her poetry book, A GOOD HAND,
"Great read on simple joys of life including seasons, dogs, and community. Dana has a true voice that sings, on and off the page!"


BACK TO ABNORMAL: SURVIVING WITH AN OLD FARM IN THE NEW SOUTH:

I purchased the book directly from Dana when she read at Writers' Night Out in Blairsville, GA, and I'm so glad I did. While it's true that it's theme is that of preserving, and not destroying, I honed in on Dana's wise advice to aspiring writers like me. I aspire to write about my family history and make it interesting to folks who don't know us. In Dana's words, like, "... Writers write to figure out the why of what is.", I found considerable insight into why I want to write, as well as how to go about it. I recommend the book as a writing handbook as well as a treatise on how to take care of our earth. Thank you to Dana for her sage advice. --- Ellen Schofield

A reviewer says of her poetry book, A GOOD HAND,

"Great read on simple joys of life including seasons, dogs, and community. Dana has a true voice that sings, on and off the page!"

The intertwined essays in BACK TO ABNORMAL: SURVIVING WITH AN OLD FARM IN THE NEW SOUTH spin out from author Dana Wildsmith's daily life on an old farm in the foothills of the north Georgia mountains, to the regional world of the ESL classes she teaches, to the national scope of her work as a writer and a teacher of creative writing.

The chapters read like a string of summer front-porch evenings with the author - talking about her past, her work on the farm, the people she lives among, and the eternal puzzle of how to make sure her time on this spot of earth continues whole, healthy and life-sustaining.

Environmental writer Jeff Biggers calls BACK TO ABNORMAL "a testimony to what we risk to lose."

Philip Lee Williams, a Georgia Author of the Year, says, "The rural world needs all the friends it can get, and it has here found the champion it deserves."

Writer & teacher Darnell Arnoult says BACK TO ABNORMAL is "a sharp and compassionate anthem and prophetic elegy to the pastoral standing ground against the hungry and devouring teeth of suburban sprawl." www.MotesBooks.com ~

Register for Dana's writing class, Words are All We Have, at Writers Circle on April 25, Saturday 10 - 1:00, by calling 828-389-4441 or emailing glendabeall@msn.com

Print the registration form found at www.glendacouncilbeall.blogspot.com 
Mail with your check to address provided.

This poem has special meaning to me.

This poem was sent to me from Jayne Jaudon Ferrer's Your Daily Poem, and I wanted to share it with any of you who have not yet subscribed to have a poem a day sent to your Inbox.
Jayne Jaudon Ferrer is the author of four books and the host of www.YourDailyPoem.com. She lives in Greenville, SC. Visit her website at www.JayneJaudonFerrer.com and her blog at http://commagoddess.blogspot.com.



Sing to Me
by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Sing to me! Something of sunlight and bloom,
I am so compassed with sorrow and gloom,
I am so sick with the world’s noise and strife,
Sing of the beauty and brightness of life—
Sing to me, sing to me!

Sing to me! Something that’s jubilant, glad!
I am so weary, my soul so sad.
All my earth riches are covered with rust,
All my bright dreams are but ashes and dust.
Sing to me, sing to me!

Sing of the blossoms that open in spring,
How the sweet flowers blow, and the long lichens cling,
Say, though the winter is round about me,
There are bright summers and springs yet to be.
Sing to me, sing to me!

Sing me a song full of hope and of truth,
Brimming with all the sweet fancies of youth!
Say, though my sorrow I may not forget,
I have not quite done with happiness yet.
Sing to me, sing to me!

Lay your soft fingers just here, on my cheek;
Turn the light lower—there—no, do not speak,
But sing! My heart thrills at your beautiful voice;
Sing till I turn from my grief and rejoice
Sing to me, sing to me!

This poem is in the public domain


Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) was a popular and prolific poet. Published and lauded before she even graduated from high school, Ella preferred to write happy, upbeat poetry and was much beloved for it. More than a dozen of her poems are included in the book, Best Loved Poems of the American People (Doubleday, 2008). The familiar saying, "Laugh and the world laughs with you, weep, and you weep alone. . ." comes from her best-known poem, "Solitude." A morally strong and spiritual person, Ella believed that her purpose on earth was to practice kindness and service.

What other life would you choose?

Renaissance Rebecca has a post today that intrigues me. "List ten other lives you'd like to lead and tell why" or something to that effect.

Click here to see what she chose and think what you would choose.

I'd like to lead the life of sailboat captain for just a few weeks. The quietness and the wind in my face, the sun warming me, would be delightful.

When I was much younger, I would have loved to work on a working cattle ranch. To spend time on horseback everyday was such a dream of mine.

I would like to be part of a speaking tour where I could talk to groups about the harm being done to the future of this country unless we wake up to the chemical pollution of our water, our air and our food.

If I could, I'd love to lead a dancing excercise class. That is my favorite method of moving all the muscles in my body and keeping fit.

In another life, I would sing! Singing calms the nerves, soothes and energizes us. I always wished I could sing with my husband and our sound would be beautiful. His voice was excellent, but my voice was never that good. However, I did sing for many years in the church choir and always felt great afterward.

But of all the things I have wanted to do in my life, teaching seems to be the one thing I enjoy most at this time. Helping others to gain the knowledge, the confidence, the belief that they can do what they want to do.

Writing and teaching others is the life I want and the life I plan to lead.

                               Students in my class at John C. Campbell Folk School