AMPHIBIFUN

Paid a frog a fee

Now my drive to town, fog free

Well, it worked today

And who is to say,

Some kind of God oddity

Or just poetry?

DRK

4/27/19

 

WE ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER

A Poem from the Covid-19 Pandemic

There is a song

“The Saints Go Marching in”

         You probably know it well

         If not, check with a jazzy friend

I listened to it last week on my Covid walk

And it eased my 82-year-old shuffle around the ‘hood

It also got me thinking about things that keep people moving

Together

Christians (not unique, I am sure)

Have always advocated communing  

One mystical body, Christ as the head

The rest of us with our roles to play

Succeeding only in the context of each other

Look it up

The Communion of Saints

Now, Covid activities have gotten me wondering

At a less abstract level

About the communal lives of

Well, …, saints

Those people many of us try to emulate

Do they, as the song suggests, march?

In groups?

With the help of music?

Is this what we should emulate?

It is not for me to know

If saints march

To, fro, or why

But I am looking to them to help us learn

About social distancing 

Together

Can you envision marching saints?

My image is that of Mardi Gras in New Orleans

Bands on parade

Some of them absolutely buoyant

Strutting and weaving down the street

“Saints marching in?”

The saints among us today

         You’ve seen them

         Your neighbors

         Essential workers, maybe

They are pretty active

Maybe even buoyant

Not ones to ponder

They have a vision of the needs of others

And how to respond

Right now

Their message,

Someone cares

What would it take to get me up off the curb  

Instead of just watching others march?

A nice Dixieland beat

Would move my feet

But that cadence is just a start

Rachmaninoff’s surging melodies

Have infused me with energy

And let me forget the soreness in my hips and knees

The message

Get started and keep going

I have listened to other music, walking

Dave Brubeck, Offenbach, Chopin etudes

Each so different from the rest

But they all adjusted my attitude

And spiced my walk with a little zest

My take

Learn to enjoy moving

Imagine being in a parade

You may march to a less musical drummer

But if you let me join you

I can lag behind
Maintain some distance

So as not to slow you down

There is another group of saints

Those who acted saintly here and then passed on

Who knows what their “life” is like “up there?”

We can hope there is some celebrating

Enjoying a just reward

Dancing, maybe

Weaving down some celestial street

Pause for a lighter moment

  

A saint wearing a party hat

Poking through a halo

Hello

Ponder that

Harps and choirs?

I think not

Not your take on heaven?

Probably

But just saying

Communing with others over a shared purpose

May create a parade

Take your places!  Eyes right!  Give me six feet!
And let's step out with pride

So, ... , where do we go?
Care-givers, I am told
Should prepare for anywhere
If you need specifics
Turn on the tv

A test for your theological imagination

How much random wandering occurs in heaven?

Or how much random wandering gets people into heaven?

The saying suggests, it takes a village to get you to that home

But I want to know about my village

Does someone here have a metronome?

DRK

5/26/2020

Happy 109th birthday, mom.

 SECOND CUP

I crossed town today for breakfast
At the campus center for continuing ed
And ended up, instead, inside my head

The place — abuzz
Ag Extension busying the halls
With planning meetings for the fall

And there I was
Appropriately dressed — in plaid and brown
Milling, greeting, hurrying on to a plenary
Stimulated by the conversations — from my memory?
How to improve getting things done


Dennis!  Your breakfast!
Let these young move on


For 40 years I admired my colleagues in ag  
Holding in high regard
Their earnest discipline — in my mind, perfectly niched
Applying their dreams and substantial wits
To improve the rural communities they never quite left
 
Life on the farm, never my forte’
Nevertheless, the academy welcomed me
We shared years and careers
Several universities
Studying the issues that distinguished
Living and working outside cities


DRK
2/22/16

 

ON BEING WRONG

 

Am I to deny

Her the opportunity

Her spot in the sun?

 

There are, it turns out

Others more up on this one

I will try again

 

DRK

7/22/2021

 NOT QUITE STILL LIFE

Across the room a potted plant,
petals pressed against the window,
looks in at me,
drawing attention to the maple tree.
Its leaves acknowledge the breeze
stirring two rocking chairs
which flank the potted scene.

DRK
7/21/16

 HAPPY FATHERS' DAY

Daddy's daughter's treat
Mommy, I just woke daddy
Told him to sleep in

DRK
6/8/16

 

TOM

 

An elegy

From parts of our past

 

You said he was sick 

And you were there, Marlene 

Taking care

My imagination limits me

 

O-o-h

 

I did not see him suffer

Waste away, I guess

That dynamic vibrant guy I will always remember

 

With over a half century of connections ripped away

Can your pain be fathomed?

Not by me

Ten times +++ the 5 ½ years I lost in 1967

+++ the kids and grandkids, all that life wearied

 

O-o-h

 

It’s too early to talk about new beginnings

Too early for hope

It is still about the loss

Let your grieving flow

 

My whole being groans for you

 

Tom is here

In my heart

As he has been 

Since the day we freshmen walked up five flights of stairs

Lugging golf clubs

Up Benet Hall

 

 

 

 

For four years we exchanged

Golf for the love of learning

Thanks to Tom I learned to study

And a great deal more

The camaraderie of college life

 

And my admiration for his career and family

Well done

 

Always here

In my heart

 

Dennis Keefe

April 7, 2021