Poems du Jour

Seasonal Weather
By C.K. Armistead
12/27/2015

That Vandal, Banshee wind
Charges down the plains
From the North
Roaring its displeasure
Rattling fences,
Overturning suburban trashcans
Making the steam rising
From the neighbor's heating vent
A ragged banner, flung violently
Southward,
As if issuing a challenge to Texas.

The sparrows huddle in the
Lee of the house
Popping out now and then
To steal seed from the feeder
And return to the shelter
Of the small evergreen shrub
Beneath my window.
Breathless in the face
Of the wind's onslaught.

And here I sit, behind double-paned windows
Cozy in my room, cup of hot tea
In my hand
And books to warm my soul
Insulated from
That howling Banshee's roar
Though I can feel it,
Yes I can.
An ache, a twinge of warning
In my joints, in my very bones.
Winter has arrived
In his noisy chariot
Behind his howling steeds.


Second Wave
By C.K. Armistead 12/27/15

Now Winter's most insidious minion,
Cold
Picks and pries and seeps his way
Into our homes, into our bones.
All our modern comforts cannot
Completely banish him.
He finds the loosely fitted window,
The poorly insulated wall,
The edge of an aging floorboard
And flings his icy darts at us
As we read, or rest.
At night, only the warmth
Of many blankets-
And our bodies -
Keeps him at bay.
But when you must get up,
He waits to nip at your toes,
And breathe chills down your neck.
There is a warmth in our hearts, though,
That can thwart him.
Love.
Thoughts of those we love
Can send warmth spreading
Outward from our hearts
And can stop Winter's true cold
From harming us.


Oklahoma: 12/27/15
C.K.Armistead

Grey
So dreary and dull
The Oklahoma sky that usually
Sparkles the bluest blue
Cold
So cold that the North wind comes
Screaming down the plains
Freezing the puddles
Trapping the fallen oak leaves there
Like flies in amber
Snow
Not pretty, not yet.
Just a hardscrabble
Central Oklahoma frosting
 So far-
of snow and fallen sleet
Dead grass, dry leaves
And bare branches
Still plain to see.

Pop's Pen
CK Armistead 12/27/15

Fountain pens are living things
Tools with a soul-
Closely associated
With the one who uses them
Many have I collected,
Some very fine
And a joy to use,
But this one,
This one is special.
It's been to War
And back.
It's written letters I've never read.
It has languished long years
Saved in a drawer
Unused.
Its song stilled.
I have inherited it,
Cleaned it,
Refilled it,
And given it a chance.
Now it sings for me
Helping me tell my stories
And remembering
My Pop for me
By the wear of its nib,
The wear on its body,
And the fine accuracy
 Of its point.

A New Year, The Same Old Me

Just some random ramblings about how the first week or so of the New Year is going. 
On New Year's Day, we noticed a bit of water standing in the front flower bed by my office window.  Kept an eye on it, and it hasn't gone away.  So, have called upon the Water Service Line insurance folks to send someone to look at it and figure out if it is the water supply line as we fear.  Just hope it's leaking OUTSIDE the slab,  and NOT under it!  I will probably lose a couple of rose bushes because of this. :(  The roses you see in this photo are the ones that may be lost.  They are dormant now, so if we can dig them up safely and cover the roots with dirt until everything is repaired, we should be able to replant them.  They need pruning back anyway.

Also on New Year's Day, I managed to keep a few resolutions.  I wrote in a poetry journal, and in one of my other journals, I exercised, I worked on the Bodhran lessons online, I did voice practice, and in general felt pretty pleased with myself.
Since then, I have failed to do any of those things except exercise. 

Tomorrow I have to go and insure my continued existence.  To do this, I must have my husband with me, and we must go to the Pass and ID  office on Tinker AFB to get my ID card renewed.  If it expires, so do I.  (At least as far as my base privileges and my medical care are concerned.) All this means I must get up the FIRST time the alarm clock goes off, and I must be more or less coherent before 10 am.  A VERY tall order.  I'm a night owl, and rarely fully mentally functional before 10:30 am at the earliest without massive infusions of caffeine. 

The weather in the last day or so has turned incredibly cold.  Bitter arctic air seems to be trying to push it's way all over this country right now.  I do not want to see our natural gas bill next month.  It's going to be ugly.  Very ugly indeed. 

Also hope it isn't too horribly cold on Tuesday.  On Tuesday the people are supposed to come and actually install drywall in our garage.  FINALLY.  (It's only been damaged since MAY.)  (Contractors and workers hard to come by around here in the aftermath of that tornado.  Our garage ceiling fell in the day BEFORE the big tornado.) 

 

This is what the garage looked like right after it happened. All the stuff is now moved out, and all the drywall is down.  The walls have ALL been insulated, new electrical wiring installed, and we're waiting on the drywall crew.

At least I have money put aside for that, and the service line coverage SHOULD cover the water issue.  Thanks be to God, because our budget can't take many unexpected expenses.  

Tomorrow is also the first voice lesson of the New Year.  Hope I can produce a halfway decent sound.  I did all right this morning, in spite of my sinuses.  Our anthem went very well.  

So, the New Year is acting a lot like the old one so far.  Hope things improve.  I am not giving up hope just yet.  

There are still good things to be done, and books to read, and songs to sing, and challenges to meet.  Guess I better get some sleep now so I can handle all that! 

The poem I wrote on New Year's:

Resolved Again 

By C.K. Armistead 1/1/14

To make the right choice

To practice piano, drum, 

And voice

To move my body more

To make it strong and sleek

For my love to adore.

To open my ears and eyes

To write my visions here to share

Hoping they won't be despised.

To love more, care and share

With those who cross my path

And those in need elsewhere.

To be myself, but more refined

More of what is best about me

And leave selfishness behind.

So my life is a light

And a guide to others

And not a blight.

Fall Has Fallen, Or Autumn Comes Tumbling In

There are a few sure signs that the seasons have changed around here.  Oh, yeah, the obvious ones like leaves turning colors and falling, and cooler nights, but there are other things that really mark the change for me.
This evening I put the heated mattress pad on the bed.  A major ordeal, and only undertaken after a night when crawling into bed was like getting into an icebox because of cold sheets.  (Our room is on the north end of the house, we really need to re-do the attic insulation.  SOON.)  Last night was one such night.  I was so cold at first, I couldn't get comfortable.  (Then, of course, the first hot flash of the night hit, and I threw all the covers off, but I digress...)
So, tonight, I decided I didn't want that shock when getting into bed.  The process of putting this mattress pad on the bed is not as straightforward as one might think.  It involves threading electrical cords under our bed, where some large flat items are stored, and always, without fail, I forget about the center support legs for the bed frame, and have to re-thread the cords around it or one of us won't be able to reach the controller on our side of the bed.
I managed to manhandle the mattress pad onto the bed itself, top it with another mattress pad to protect it, put the regular bedding back in place, and get the stupid thing all hooked up and working without resorting to any of my Pop's "magic words".  (Those that would work for him, but backfire bigtime if any of us kids used them. )
Doing this really made me miss our cat, Madame Skye.  She used to LOVE that heated mattress pad.  She'd crawl up on the bed as soon as I turned it on each evening, and snuggle between the pillows we pile on top of the bed to heat the top sheet as well. 

 

This is the sight I am missing tonight.  No Madame curled up on the foot of the bed, soaking in the warmth.  

I have also dug out the cold weather clothes, and wore my tweed coat for the first time today.  I have yet to haul out the big green wool coat that I have had since 1990, but the day isn't far off.  I've gotten the turtleneck sweaters out, and the sweats and warmup pants for my workouts.  Our electric bills will go down, and our gas bill is on the way up.  (Though we keep it about 66 in here during the day, 61 at night because we don't mind the cold when we're asleep.  Once we get warm, that is.) We wear sweaters and have lots of throws around the house to snuggle up in.  (And my Nook e-reader has the added bonus of producing a little bit of heat, so when I curl up to read, I stay warm and toasty!)

I love being able to wear my sweaters again.  Added bonus this year that since I have lost weight, the nice sweaters that were a little too tight last year fit really well this year.  I am afraid I do have Holiday sweaters, but most of them are not of the gaudy ugly variety.  I can't help myself, I think I taught in the primary grades too long.  

I also have a black and white Fair Isle type sweater that I wore today.  Nice and warm, and sometimes too warm.  Variations on a cardigan, and you know library ladies just can't resist cardigans.  We need them.  Too warm for a sweater in the back when moving books around, too cold without one when seated at a desk for a long time.  Yes, the cardigan is the library lady's best friend.

Just be glad I cut all my hair off.  I no longer put my braid up in a bun and stick a pencil in it.  (Oh, yes, I used to do that.  Thank God there are no pictures!)

The begonias on the front porch have finally been frost bit enough to wilt.  So soon the Autumn yard clean up will have to begin, and we'll let the oak and pecan leaves fill the herb and flower beds to provide free mulch.  Works every year so far.  

Time for me to end this post.  Another sign of cooler weather.  My body protests sitting still too long.  I get cold, joints get stiff and sore. Time for some herb tea before bed.