Thursday, June 30, 2011

I can't believe it's been three years since I last posted on this site! But back then, I was "retired" just as I am now...and then shortly after I started the blog, I made the decision to go back to my old job at the church. Well, God, as always, is patient with me and He's led me back to respite -- from that role, anyway. Now, it's just Bob, the dog, and me, enjoying our time together once again. But not the heat--yesterday's high here in Hays, America was 107 and today they're predicting a high of 111!

As I engage in revisions of this blog, i.e. new design, pictures, etc. the layout may seem simple, perhaps boring. But be patient with me, dear reader. (I'm assuming a lot, that anyone might even be reading this!)

In the meantime, I'm getting a lot of enjoyment out of reading and writing poetry once again. Here's one I wrote in 2008 as part of an exercise from a poetry writing handbook. It's by no means finished, but is the result of cutting and pasting from a set of rules from a card game....I believe it was pinochle. Anyway, I just resurrected it the other day. It was fun to do, and gave me a little license to play with words and experiment with creativity. It certainly still needs revision. Suggestions are welcome. Tell me what you think.

Playing the Card Game of Life

Your partner will be whoever

is next to you. To begin with,

you may or may not know him.

or you may think you know him.

but only the game will tell.

Select a Dealer. Do not depend

on your own devices. This Person

will shuffle the cards, but only

if you let Him. The cards are dealt

to every player. But everyone

will have a different hand. When the

Dealer is through, don’t look back,

look forward to the first step: bidding.

Anything can be used to bid—a life,

person, an idea of passion. To be a bidder,

you need to have a reckless spirit

and understand the next two steps--

heartbreaking though they may be--

which are melding and trick-taking.

And trick-taking may be all your life

has come to. Melding means to lay down

a specific combination of cards. Just like that,

you open up a part of your life to all the players.

If you’ve ever played rummy, you know

how to meld. Anyone who’s lived a life

has a lifetime of melding. In this game,

there are numerous, infinite ways

to meld. And all of them

are worth a few points.