In Exile

“Since that day till now our life is one unbroken paradise. We live a true brotherly life. Every evening after supper we take a seat under the mighty oak and sing our songs.” — Extract from a letter of a Russian refugee in Texas.

Twilight is here, soft breezes bow the grass,
Day's sounds of various toil break slowly off,
The yoke-freed oxen low, the patient ass
Dips his dry nostril in the cool, deep trough.

Chavita on His Eighth Birthday

When I was eight
Someone also gave me a bicycle for my birthday
It was my grandfather
He made it from the parts of old bicycles
And painted it so it looked like new
I lived on a farm
And I rode it everywhere

A Nation's Strength

What makes a nation's pillars high
And it's foundations strong?
What makes it mighty to defy
The foes that round it throng?

Christmas in July or Words from Some Guy

A token of appreciation...of amity
A wish list received in Chicago
Then a scavenger hunt in San Antonio
One Northern Santa on the precipice of sanity

Four simple items...nothing more       
When black licorice could not be procured
This plan of ease was now skewered
Six plazas later...roadblocks galore

Women's Rights

The Women are Persons! Monument in Ottawa, Canada.

You cannot rob us of the rights we cherish,
Nor turn our thoughts away
From the bright picture of a "Woman's Mission"
Our hearts portray.