The Mower

The Mower, by Philip Larkin:

The mower stalled, twice; kneeling, I found

A hedgehog jammed up against the blades,

Killed. It had been in the long grass.

I had seen it before, and even fed it, once.

Now I had mauled its unobtrusive world

Unmendably. Burial was no help:

Next morning I got up and it did not.

The first day after a death, the new absence

Is always the same; we should be careful

Of each other, we should be kind

While there is still time.

(courtesy of RMR)

Remember, I'm Spending Christmas With Jesus Christ This Year...

I see the countless Christmas trees around the world below
With tiny lights, like Heaven’s stars, reflecting on the snow
The sight is so spectacular, please wipe away the tear
For I am spending Christmas with Jesus Christ this year.
I hear the many Christmas songs that people hold so dear
But the sounds of music can’t compare
with the Christmas choir up here.

I have no words to tell you, the joy their voices bring,
For it is beyond description, to hear the angels sing.
I know how much you miss me, I see the pain inside your heart
But I am not so far away, we really aren’t apart.
So be happy for me, dear ones, you know I hold you dear.
And be glad I’m spending Christmas
with Jesus Christ this year.

I sent you each a special gift, from my heavenly home above.
I sent you each a memory of my undying love.
After all, love is a gift more precious than pure gold
It was always most important in the stories Jesus told.
Please love and keep each other, as my Father said to do
For I can’t count the blessing or love he has for each of you
So have a Merry Christmas and wipe away that tear
Remember, I am spending Christmas
with Jesus Christ this year.

Author Unknown

Golf Poetry

I grip the club like Palmer, address the ball like Snead
Relax like Julius Boros to gain full clubhead speed.
I follow through like Littler, blast out of traps like Wall
I concentrate like Nicklaus, about to putt the ball.
I imitate the top flight pros on fairway, green and tee
In spite of all my efforts…..I hit the ball like me.

Written by Dick Emmons (I think)
Printed in Golf Digest about 1966

Making The Most Out Of Our Circumstances...

A couple of weeks ago I was with my friend, TB. She shared this poem with me. I can't possibly express how much these words spoke to my heart. As someone that has less than two functioning limbs I naturally have limitations, yet it is still up to me as to whether I allow those limitations to cripple me or whether I strive for a "wing" to fill in the physical gap by continually reaching beyond the so-called cap on my grasp.

Thanks so much TB!

A Man

While fighting for his country, he lost an arm

and was suddenly afraid:

'From now on, I shall only be able to do

things by halves.

I shall reap half a harvest.

I shall be able to play either the tune

or the accompaniment on the piano,

but never both parts together.

I shall be able to bang with only one fist

on doors, and worst of all

I shall only be able to half hold

my love close to me.

There will be things I cannot do at all,

applaud for example,

at shows where everyone applauds.'

From that moment on, he set himself to do

everything with twice as much enthusiasm.

And where the arm had been torn away

a wing grew.

- Nina Cassian

The Oak Tree

The Oak Tree

by Johnny Ray Ryder Jr.

A mighty wind blew night and day.

It stole the Oak Tree's leaves away.

Then snapped its boughs

and pulled its bark

until the Oak was tired and stark.

But still the Oak Tree held its ground

while other trees fell all around.

The weary wind gave up and spoke,

"How can you still be standing Oak?"

The Oak Tree said, I know that you

can break each branch of mine in two,

carry every leaf away,

shake my limbs and make me sway.

But I have roots stretched in the earth,

growing stronger since my birth.

You'll never touch them, for you see

they are the deepest part of me.

Until today, I wasn't sure

of just how much I could endure.

But now I've found with thanks to you,

I'm stronger than I ever knew.

The Man in the Glass

The Man in the Glass

When you get what you want in your struggle for self,

And the world makes you king for a day,

Just go to the mirror and look at yourself

And see what that man has to say.

It isn't your father or mother or wife

Whose judgment which you must pass.

The fellow whose verdict counts most in your life

Is the one staring back from the glass.

You may be like Jack Horner and chisel a plum

And think you're a wonderful guy.

But the man in the glass says you're only a bum

If you can't look him straight in the eye.

He's the fellow to please‑ never mind all the rest,

For he's with you clear to the end.

And you've passed your most dangerous, difficult test

If the man in the glass is your friend.

You may fool the whole world down the pathway of years

And get pats on the back as you pass.

But your final reward will be heartache and tears

If you've cheated the man in the glass.

The Beautiful Day

On a beautiful day that I dream about

In a world I would love to see,
Is a beautiful place where the sun comes out
And it shines in the sky for me.
On this beautiful winter’s morning,
If my wish could come true somehow,
Then the beautiful day that I dream about

Would be here and now.

The Beautiful Day

Rabbi Ben Ezra

Grow old along with me!
The best is yet to be,
The last of life, for which the first was made:
Our times are in His hand
Who saith, “A whole I planned,
Youth shows but half; trust God: see all, nor be afraid!

Robert Browning

The Winds of Fate

One ship drives east and another drives west
With the selfsame winds that blow.
Tis the set of the sails
And not the gales
Which tells us the way to go.
Like the winds of the seas are the ways of fate,
As we voyage along through the life:
Tis the set of a soul
That decides its goal,
And not the calm or the strife.

Ella Wilcox Wheeler

Excerpt of "The Hollow Men" By T.S. Eliot

*A friend of mine shared this excerpt this week and tonight I believe it is worth sharing again.

We are the hollow men
We are the stuffed men
Leaning together
Headpiece filled with straw. Alas!

This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends

Not with a bang but a whimper.