EMILY GOES TO SCHOOL

 

Emily’s family has a new focus this year

For Emmy’s first school day is finally here.

Preschool is done

Kindergarten roundup was fun.

Now play days are school days,

Just beginning the run

Through teachers and friends,

Classes and grades,

Year after year.

Will it ever be done?

 

They will help her get better

At this and at that

Learning numbers, letters

And how to spell “CAT.”

                                                                                

Ideas will be led through her mind

In formations of phrases,

New words and new books;

Adding, subtracting and art --

She may learn to cook,

As she discovers the gold mine

That is hers for a lifetime

One that will deepen, grow bigger --

Similar, but different

From yours and from mine.

 

Thanks, mom and dad,

For getting her here;       

The time will go fast,

And you will be proud;

Just remember your role in the cast

You can’t cheer too loud.

 

Dennis R. Keefe, August 25, 2003

March 25, 2023

 

HANNAH’S BANANA BOAT

We stopped for lunch at The Banana Boat

Next door to some boaters

Near the Florida shore

Now Hannah
Has a banana boat in mind 

For when she turns four

In her mind 
It’s not a toy

but big enough

"For all of us to ride on”

Shaped like a banana, it's real

With a flag and a triangle sail

A rainbow concoction

“With all the colors in it”

And somehow
Through her three-year-old eyes
She is able to see beyond rides

And wonders

“How would we take it out of the water?

And take it home?”

I suggest we gather
In her boat together
For some sailing fun
Every color and sailor

And when done
Build that banana boat

A trailer.

Dennis R. Keefe

July 2, 2003
December 21, 2014

 

A LITANY TO ALYSSA

                                       on the Transition to Three

                                                          

                                               At last, it’s time

                                         We can all breathe free

                                          Alyssa’s turned three.

 

Was she a “terrible two?”

She’s probably like me and like you.

Determined to

Have her own way

 

Now that she’s three

will she need less attention?

“Stop, look and listen to me.”

 

ON THIS TRIP, WHO WILL TAKE ALYSSA WITH THEM?

 

When she had our attention what did she do?

How many things can a two-year-old do?

 

With two sisters to teach her

Throw toys

Smear chocolate

Hit boys

Girls, dogs and anyone else

Spill drinks

Talk a blue streak

Drip bottles on the floor

Empty trash cans and table drawers

Harass Kaylee,

Demand candy

And climb a tree --

 

Two hands, better than one;

Putting Papa on the run

By hanging and screaming,

“Come and get me!”

 

OH, WE’LL TAKE HANNAH WITH US!

 

Everyday’s adventure is

A test of you and what’s new

It’s all new at two,

Just try it and see --

Society’s expectations

Will be met

Later, alligator.

 

EMILY CAN COME WITH US!

 

“Three” must be here

She’s snuggling and reading,

Swimming and diving,                          

She cleaned a mess

And apologized

“I’m sorry I broke your doll.”                        

There is hope for us all.

 

WE’LL TAKE EMILY AND HANNAH WITH US

 

Was she naughty enough to be a good two,

Or just adequate?                                

A real handful

Or an angelic armful? 

You call it. 

For me she was terrible at being a two.

 

SO HAND HER TO ME --

 

fun it will be 

to see her through three.

 

ALYSSA IS COMING WITH ME!.

 

Dennis R. Keefe

January 7, 2004

March 25, 2023

 

DINING FINE

 

A forkful of lobster

From a surf and turf meal

Dripping drawn butter across a baked potato

Savor with

Sauvignon Blanc

 

Then, the turf

Prime rib

With just a taste of fat

Juicy

Cabernet

 

Repeat

 

I love it with that butter drenched baked potato

And the salad that was served first

 

Happy birthday to me

 

Do you have a favorite meal?

Is it enjoyed best in the company of others

Maybe on a regular basis?

 

My bit of decadence does not socialize well

 

Regular servings would be lonely meals

 

I thought of this as I watched a woman

Eating at one of my favorite restaurants

 

Her dinner, surely, reflected her personal choices

Why not?

She was dining alone

I wondered if the meal measured up

Hard to tell

She just

Ate

 

The restaurant’s favorites were at her bidding

She chose baked lasagna with garlic toast

And, for starters, one of those pour-your-own drink glasses

For me, that would have meant, martini

But only she knows what she was drinking

There was no one there to affirm it

 

She was elderly, quite so, not attractive, visually emotionless

I am thinking, main meal

Mid-day

With leftovers for later

 

It would have been nice if those leftovers

Had been planned with someone else in mind

Someone at home

Who might enjoy sharing them

Or raise an eyebrow

About the costs

 

DRK

9/1/22

9//23/22

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SHARING MY SHOWER

 

I share my shower 

With my wife

‘s

Washing machine

Garden hoses

Bathroom

And dishwasher

 

Morning water variety

Gets my attention

 

And keeps me focused on my wife

‘s

Activities

 

The many things she cleans

Compared to my responsibility for me

 

 

DRK

6/6/21

 

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