When
When Satan knocks
let Jesus open the door.
When children cry
hold them close.
When Winter comes
enjoy the sparkle of the white.
When a task is finished
smile! It is completed!
HILARY KINGSBURY
Harrisville
Go the Distance with the Groove
You’ve got to go, go the distance with the groove!
You’ve got to go, go the distance with the groove!
You do well in every way to rise up and seize the day!
So get you hence and go the distance with the groove!
The rhythm of your life depends on what you do and say ...
Your attitude is everything as you live day by day, So focus your behavior on a style that’s true to you— Don’t throw it off by any means like most detractors do.
You’ve got to go, go the distance with the groove!
You do well in every way to rise up and seize the day!
So get you hence and go the distance with the groove!
JON RIPLEY O’BRIEN
Keene
Predator and Prey
Life and death play out nearby,
where prey and predator abound
about the bird feeders out back,
when chickadees and juncos come.
They carry with them genes and yearnings,
and hunger brought on by winter weather,
to pick at seeds we’ve saved from summer,
hanging, swaying in the breeze.
Woodpeckers come to peck at suet,
and squirrels scrounge for left-overs
left in the dirt and sprinkled across
the patio. And red-shouldered hawks
float by now and then to check for feeders
at the feeders, alert for a chance
to grab a small bird, or perhaps a squirrel,
and eat it right there, or lift it away,
nourishment that might last all day.
Life and death, here and now,
on display in the back yard.
But it’s a bird watcher’s pursuit.
JEFF STAPLES
Keene
My Leaky Roof
The roof of my life has sprung a leak
I place a bucket to catch the drops,
Drops of worry fill my bucket
Anger dots my brow
I stand and throw the
Bucket’s contents out the door
“no more!” I shout
My roof is sealed
With the belief of God’s everlasting love
BARBARA MAGOUN
Keene
