NO LONGER NEEDED a poem

NO LONGER NEEDED

The kids are grown,
And have long since moved away.
That old rusty swing set,
Out by the apple tree,
Sits in the choking weeds,
No longer needed.

Yesterday’s laughter,
Echoes and catches sometimes,
In a soft summer breeze,
And in my mind,
Or sometimes, in my throat.

A playful wind,
Lonesome for youthful energy,
Pushes...but with little hope,
At the eerily still swings,
And soon give up.
For there is no need.

Once upon a...
Has it really been that long?
Since childish squeals,
Mingled with squeaking chains,
Made the sweetest music.

Sometimes lately,
When the dishes have been washed,
Beds made, and laundry,
Temporarily put on hold.
I go outside,
To the swing set.

And there...alone,
Among the burr and thistle,
I stand for a long moment,
Holding to the rusty chains,
Of an old faded swing.

Waiting...listening...
To something, clearly remembered.
And in that magic circle,
Of refreshed memories,
I close my eyes,
And am not alone.

Once more I hold,
Those grass stained hands,
And kiss a jelly smeared cheek.
Giving first-aid hugs,
And ‘all-better’ kisses.

Slowly I walk...
Back to the waiting laundry.
One last look,
Over my shoulder.
Am I...today...like that old swing set,
No longer needed?

Norvona
06/24/06

THREE MORE RAYS OF SUNSHINE

...MY GRANDDAUGHTERS:

These three cutie-pies are my granddaughters. The pictures are very, very old! The sweetheart in the picture bottom right, had her fifteenth birthday last month. The lovely little lady to the left was ten this past February, and the darling cherub above them was also ten in January.

They, along with my grandson, are my heart; and they fill it with love and me with joy. I wish so much for them and am excited to see where their lives take them.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY GRANDSON!!!

Today, this towheaded seven year old is seventeen! He is my oldest grandchild and only grandson. I have three lovely granddaughters, one fifteen, and two ten year-olds.

In this photo my grandson is experiencing the wonders of his first over night camping trip and a view of Lake Murphy State Park.

It is easy to see that he inherited my love of nature and hatred of shoes. :o)

Happy Birthday, Sweetheart! Where ever you are. I love you and hope you got the collage and poem I sent.

THUNDERSTORMS AND POETRY

We had a bit of a storm a couple of days ago, but a beautiful sunset followed. I made this collage from some of the pictures I took.

I love thunderstorms. One of the first poems I wrote as a teenager was "Nature’s Army."

First comes the rain,
A drop at a time,
Softening the ground,
For the army behind.

Next is the wind,
......................

Sorry, can’t remember the rest. I have an old yellowed copy of it somewhere. I’ll find it and finish posting it.

My mother who is 84 has written hundreds of poems and can remember almost all of them, word for word. I can’t remember the ones I wrote last week! The mind is a terrible thing to lose.

One of the projects that I have planned for this blog is a collection of family poems. My paternal grandmother wrote what she called ‘songs.’ They were poems that she sang in her rich Cherokee voice. She died at 93 and was sharp and witty almost to the end. She could remember her poems also...I must be the weak link!
Norvona

A BLOG IS BORN

Once upon forever,
In a land not far away,
An old grandma newbie,
Created a blog to say . . .

Hi, I'm Norvona. "OnceUponForever" is the signature of a series of children’s picture books, which I have been working on for several years. It is also the way I begin every story I tell my grandchildren, and I have always liked the philosophy it implies.

Most likely these stories will never be published commercially, and are intended for my personal use only. I may however post them on this blog from time to time and will accept all comments in the spirit they are intended.

However, today I have set up this blog for another purpose, to post a movie/story I made using Microsoft PictureIt! Express 9 and my very first digital camera (so I am still very much learning how this whole digital thing works.) It also includes a poem I wrote especially for the photos and background music from the CD of Mendelssohn's Twelve String Symphonies.

The view was from my back deck this past Wednesday morning. I hope you enjoy it.
Norvona

PS: I haven't been able to find a way to download the movie directly to this blog. I have worked on it for hours, took a nap and tried again. My eyes are crossed and my IQ has dropped at least 25 points. So I have used 'yousendit' and hope that the link works. Looks as if you will have to do the copy/paste thing. Good luck. It certainly was easier to make the movie than to make it accessible. Could very well be a short 'movie career' for this 'Cecil B. DeMiles.'
Feb. 3, 2010....It's been a long time coming, but here at last is the video. I may try this again now that it is so easy. :-)