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Joyce Johnson
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Member Rara Avis
since 2001-03-10
Posts 9912
Washington State

0 posted 2007-08-07 12:21 PM


Well Used Hands

As I gaze at my garden grimed fingers
I think of my work-worn dad.
To care for his loved family,
Calloused hands were all that he had.

"They guided a plow and planted a row.
They harnessed a horse and milked a cow.
They chopped the wood that stoked the fire;
These hands no lady would admire.

They grew the crops that brought the cash.
They carried the water for Monday's wash.
They clasped sometimes to pray for rain
And patted a child who was in pain.

They reached in pocket and found a sweet
For daughter who wiggled on hard pew seat.
If distraught Mama need a pair
Of extra hands, my dad's were there.

He cut his nails as short as he could
But they still splintered like kindling wood.
My mama's hands were tapered and slim,
But I inherited hands from him."

As I kneel in the dirt of my garden
I'm aware that without fail
When I strip off protective gloves
I'll reveal a broken nail.

My daddy now labors in Heaven
But I know he understands
Why a well tended, thriving garden
Wins out over cared for hands.

By: Joyce Johnson 8/7/07



© Copyright 2007 Joyce I Johnson - All Rights Reserved
Trillium
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Member Patricius
since 2001-03-09
Posts 12098
Idaho, USA
1 posted 2007-08-08 10:24 PM


Dear Joyce:  This is a lovely poem with a world of truth in it.

Love
Betty Lou

Beasley
Senior Member
since 2003-11-28
Posts 682
Cheboygan,MI USA
2 posted 2007-08-09 07:57 PM


Oh, Joyce, this is absolutely beautiful.
What a wonderful man! What a tribute.
love, Barb

r v wooo
Senior Member
since 2007-08-07
Posts 656

3 posted 2007-08-09 08:11 PM


Honor thy father and thy mother...good...very, very good!
pegasus111
Member Elite
since 2000-07-27
Posts 2219
ocala, fl, usa
4 posted 2007-08-11 04:38 AM


I liked this one dear Joyce. It is nostalgic & reverent. Bless you.

the woods are lovely, dark, and deep, but I have promises to keep, and many miles to go before I sleep...Frost



Joyce Johnson
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Member Rara Avis
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Washington State
5 posted 2007-08-11 09:46 AM


Thanks everyone.  My hands like my daddy's, will never win a beauty prize.  joyce
Marge Tindal
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Florida's Foreverly Shores
6 posted 2007-08-11 04:06 PM


SweetLady~
I have seen the beauties that your flower designing hands have created ... add on to that your way with fingering words ... and I'd say you've got BEAUTIFUL hands~

*Huglets*
~*Marge*~

~*The sound of a kiss is not as strong as that of a cannon, but it's echo endures much longer*~
Email -     noles1@totcon.com   

Alison
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Lumpy oatmeal makes me crazy!
7 posted 2009-11-01 01:10 AM


And I think of those hands now touching, hugging and loving your great grandson.  You have shared your family so generously on these pages - and I hope that you get peace knowing how loved your Jesse is - here on Earth and in Heaven.

Love,
Alison

Joyce Johnson
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Member Rara Avis
since 2001-03-10
Posts 9912
Washington State
8 posted 2009-11-01 01:13 AM


Alison you're wonderful.  Finding these poems I thought were long gone past their prime.  I am trying to catch up.  I have woefully neglected my reading and I was doing so tonight and thinking I had to get to bed and suddenly remembered.  I get to set the clock BACK an hour.  I feel a poem coming on.  Love, Joyce
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