We Shall Overcome

Writers were asked to choose from various topics related to racism in America from their own experiences or those depicted in the media.  Some wrote essays about how things were in the 50s and 60s and the changes that have taken place since then.  In our discussion the writers agreed that as a nation there is still work to be done and discrimination still exists in many forms.  As senior citizens they lived through a time when there were signs forbidding blacks from eating, drinking, and sleeping in the same place as whites.  They also saw the the marches and sit ins on the nightly news and witnessed history first hand.  They did not shy away or sugar coat the discussions or examples they gave.  I have been involved in a number of diversity dialogues with mixed race groups, and found the candor and honesty of these seniors to be most enlightening  as they were not oppressed by "political correctness" my generation was taught.  The following is a poem written by Joann Cleland.

There was a time when discriminatin was part of our everyday lives.  We began to learn. That black or white, we are all the same - no matter what color.

We Are All the Same

"Get outta here nigger

This is for the whites only

You may be thirsty 

But you have your own drinking place."

"There is a special place in the city

Where them black people live

Don't go down there when you're in town

You don't know what might happen

If a black man stares you down."

"Went to the restroom where the whites had a place,

The blacks were not allowed there,

They had their own space."

"Bus came down the street to pick up people

Black and white were going the same direction

But blacks sat in the back

Up front was the whites

As was their right."

"Man came walking down the street

Looking kinda happy and whistling too.

Woman turns around with much disgust

Tells him to get going to his own part of town."

"Flip those pancakes, mama

Till they're just light brown

Turn them over easy

Cause those whites are coming down."

"One day this may change

And black and white will work together,

Live in the same place with no bother,

Come to church like any other

What could be better than all living together."

Sunday afternoon

Here it is, a beautiful Sunday afternoon in January.  The sun has come out after the snowstorm from yesterday.  The sun is shining over the hillside beside my apartment at 308. Plush Millls.  The sky is a pretty light shade of blue with white clouds. The remaining sunlight shows off the pretty scenery itself at 3:30 in the afternoon.

The hillside is all white with snow which shows off a few evergreen trees and there are tall hardwoods in the background.  Their bare branches reach upward towards the sky. It is truly a beautiful picture to behold, the lord certainly made us a beautiful world to enjoy.

I have a small patio right outside the window next to where I am sitting.  Now and then a small bird or two flies down the patio.  They are little brown sparrows, or maybe a couple of fat little snow birds with white bellies or gray and brown feathers.  They come in the morning or afternoon these days.

In front of me on the table is the little tree with ornaments red and gold.  It is truly a reminder of the good times we had at my brother's house in Wallingford.  My Guideposts book is also on the table and says, "Rejoice! The King is born!"  There is a picture of the manger scene where the Christ child is born.

I hope you have enjoyed the little story I have written you, the people of Plush Mills.

Happy New Years 2017

With Love,

JoAnn Petrovitch

Poet as a muse

On the last Wednesday of the month at 3pm a dedicated group of Plush Mills residents meet to discuss and read poetry out loud.  Last month they chose Emily Dickinson as the featured poet.  Jerry Murphy was so inspired he wrote a poem about her.

Emily

Why haven't I found you before today?

I've avoided contact with the poetic way

Instead, my literary path led me to interstellar frays.

Today your words on masculine remarks 

Rang true as I recalled the women's March

In Washington - when I described in harsh terms

"A protest on women's foot ware"

Where did that come from?  An insensitive burst

At my masculine worst

Like "Powder exists in charcoal 

Before it exists in fire."

Emily, you may have had something there when you wrote,

"...A remark...a quiet thing that may furnish the fuse unto a spark

In dormant nature lay."

Regrets, I've had a few, but then again too few to mention.

This was one for which I had no intention.

Emily, I'll look for you again,

When next I pick up my pen.

Jerry Murphy

A life in Photos

Eleanor Bongiorno choose the assignment that asked writers to look at an old photograph and  describe it and any memories or associations it brought up.  Below are photos from her wedding and 50 year anniversary, such a treasure.

At critical times in their lives, people often utter the statement, "My life flashed before me."  I can produce this phenomenon instantly with just a click of my computer​.

     My oldest grandchild, Sarah, produced for me a slide show set to "Amazing Grace."  It's a travelogue of photos of my husband's and my lives from our childhood

until several years ago.  It's six years old and I have never, nor will I ever, delete it from my emails.     

     When the desire enters my brain, I simply bring it up and "take a stroll down memory lane" through our early years, our wedding, three children, college graduations, their weddings and most of my grandchildren.

     I can truly rank this slide show at the top of any gift I have received.