Monday, August 22, 2011

What we see in childhood


Little black notebook is waiting her prayer,
murmured and spoken her Saviour to hear;
words penned to page with the ladies to share,
the gospels, the psalms that she held so dear.

Her mother took boarders, two bits a night.
Young man saw motion with such airy grace,
her voice full of song and laughter and light.
He met with her mother, argued his case.

She bore him five children, including a son;
He sheltered and loved her his whole life long.
Puzzled  that he thought of her as the one,
She nonetheless loved him; he was her song.

       Now in her winter, I sit by her feet,
       watching her write in her notebook so neat.

This poem (a sonnet!) is submitted to the One Word Blog Carnival on “childhood,” hosted by Peter Pollock. To see other poems, please visit Peter’s site. The links will be live at 10 p.m. Central time.

This poem is also submitted to TweetSpeak Poetry’s prompt to write a sonnet based on personal history. My poem is about my paternal grandparents. If you’re on Facebook, you can see the prompt at the T.S. Press page. If you want to get really involved, you can check the photo play prompt from a recent High Calling post, which includes photography and a sonnet (I’m photography-impaired, so I just did a poem).

12 comments:

Maureen said...

This is a sweet look back at two important people in your life. The picture you create of your grandmother is full of love. I like how that notebook comes through all the years.

Linda said...

This is touching,sweet and very well done Glynn. I like it!

Scarlet said...

A wonderful lovely family love.

I like your ending lines...very moving.

Thanks for sharing it ~

Brian Miller said...

smiles. as i am sure it made her smile as well glynn...well written and felt...

thank you for the wonderful birthday wishes today!

Anonymous said...

and now you write
and you write about her
one of the things
that you held dear

a joyful noise said...

A black journal held so dear,
with prayers and notes to share,
Grandparents to love and hold Memories and stories they have told

Louise Gallagher said...

what a lovely tribute to your grandparents.

Very touching.

Chuck Allen said...

That was a beautiful poem. And it is so much sweeter knowing it was about your grandparents.

Floyd said...

That was heart warming. Beautiful.

Connie said...

As a grandmother, this blesses my heart. What a wonderful heritage they've given you.

Sandra Heska King said...

Awwww. What a treasure in that notebook.

Karen Kyle Ericson said...

That's beautiful Glynn : ) Thanks so much for sharing it. I love her humility in wondering why he chose her. Children always think their Mom's are the most beautiful women on earth. Thanks!