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Open Poetry #34
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Grandparents
| Open Poetry #34 |
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Grandparents |
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kayjay Member Elite
since 2002-06-24
Posts 2015Oregon |
Grandparents Their faces then were gruff, but kind. I found it hard with them to bind. The missing teeth and wrinkled skin Gave lie to what they held within. I never knew that Christmas coat Had come from one I’d termed “old goat.” I found their presents quite enough, But dreaded their embrace so rough. No thought gave I to lives they’d led, Nor whether they in war had bled. But times there were my folks had turned To them with pleas for help not spurned. I didn’t know that “sterner stuff” Came only from the really tough. I miss their faces, long since gone, Aware of time’s swift passage on. My children now are grown tall; Their children prance around us all. Do I display the grace of age And wisdom as their vaunted sage? Am I the one I need to be, Foundation strong for all to see? I know, within, my die is cast. To me, this mantle now has passed. |
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| © Copyright 2004 Ken Julkowski - All Rights Reserved | |||
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Sunshine
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-25
Posts 63354Listening to every heart |
 Thank you. |
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Martie
Moderator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-09-21
Posts 28049California |
Ken My children now are grown tall; "Their children prance around us all. Do I display the grace of age And wisdom as their vaunted sage? Am I the one I need to be, Foundation strong for all to see? I know, within, my die is cast. To me, this mantle now has passed." Your grace is not in gruff but tenderness and that's enough to let all know the twinkle there of a good man hugging like a bear! I loved the sentiment of this poem! |
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Susan Caldwell Member Rara Avis
since 2002-12-27
Posts 8348Florida |
I miss mine too. and I am about to become one.  the torch keeps moving. "cast me gently into the morning, for the night has been unkind" |
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Enchantress Member Empyrean
since 2001-08-14
Posts 35113Canada eh. |
Ken, your beautiful piece left me sitting here for a good ten minutes or more.. just remembering my grandparents and their unconditional love. What happy times I had with my loving grandparents... I only hope I am as kind and giving with my own grandchildren... and number ten is due in February. Heart hugs for this keeper m'friend. ~ let peace begin with me... ~ |
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kayjay Member Elite
since 2002-06-24
Posts 2015Oregon |
Thank you all who came to call and read my friendly post. To those who stand as matriarchs, it's you who matter most. Grandfathers have their day, of course, and I am one who knows it, But grandmothers, as we all know, are the cookie source. Through rubble and trouble and dark of night |
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Marge Tindal 
since 1999-11-06
Posts 42384Florida's Foreverly Shores |
Ken~ I found this priceless !!!! I can well imagine that the 'acorn didn't fall far from the tree' with your kindness of thought~ I LOVE being the 'cookie source'~ Tee-  -Hee !*Huglets* ~*Marge*~ ~*When the heart grieves over what it has lost, |
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Cloud 9 Senior Member
since 2004-11-05
Posts 980Ca |
Mine too! miss them very much!! Love it |
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Midnitesun
since 2001-05-18
Posts 28647Gaia |
lol, those grammas are always the best cookie sources enjoyed the write, Ken |
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passing shadows Member Empyrean
since 1999-08-26
Posts 45577displaced |
Ken, thanks for taking me back this morning and making me smile |
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Ratleader
since 2003-01-23
Posts 7026Visiting Earth on a Guest Pass |
Do I display the grace of age And wisdom as their vaunted sage? Yes. As one who has benefitted from your wisdom and grace, I have not the slightest doubt. ~~(¸¸¸¸ºº> ~~(¸¸¸¸ºº> ~~(¸¸ ¸¸ºº> ~~~(¸¸ER¸¸ºº> |
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suthern
since 1999-07-29
Posts 20723Louisiana |
I enjoyed your poem very much... but it was your response about grandmothers being the cookie source that woke my memories. *S* My cousin-by-birth-but-brother-of-heart and I sat on our grandmother's front porch one day... and with our only grandparent listening (and loving every bit of it *G*) we discussed the fact that we got gypped... we'd never known a grandfather and didn't really have a grandmother. *G* Soft lap to snuggle on? Ours was bony... and we rarely saw her stopped, much less sitting. Comfort and understanding? Ours was a ole battleaxe - any complaints to her would result in more chores. Spoiling the grandkids? The worst spanking I ever got was from her... believe me... I never made the mistake of giving her reason again!! And cookies??? Bah, what a laugh! LOL The only cookies ever to be found in Ma-Maw's house were store-bought lemon jumbles... and they were HERS, thank you very much... and one bag had to last a month... so any kid audacious enough to raid that bag got one of those aforementioned spankings! LOL The thing of it is... every word was true... and yet... she knew and we knew that we wouldn't have traded her for the world. *S* She literally lived on a pittance... but every single grandchild got $5 from her on their birthday... every year... and there were a lot of us. And whenever parents were unavailable due to illness or work obligations, Ma-Maw was there. She raised several of her grandchildren, stayed with all of us at one time or another (nursing me through 2 bouts of pneumonia)... and in spite of the fact that she didn't fit the grandmotherly stereotype we kept hearing about, she was the pied piper to all of us... some of my earliest memories are of walking to her house... even though she lived over a mile away. Both the grandmother and the cousin are gone now... I miss both of them so. *S* I think you'll be following your grandparents' path well just by being yourself... and loving those grandchildren sincerely... whatever your style. *S* |
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Gentle Spirit Member Patricius
since 2000-10-09
Posts 13989 |
beautiful! |
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