Verna Lee Linxwiler Hinegardner, 1919 - 2012
Requiem for a poet
A poet is dead
and unsaid words
hover restlessly
like birds gathered
on the edge of the nest
feathered to fly.
Your words--
sometimes they scowl
like midnight owls
sometimes they chatter
like guinea hens
sometimes they prowl
like hungry hounds.
Today, your words
echo re-echo
grinding a groove
in my heart.
I need more words.
Humbly I plead:
one more poem, dear poet,
to muffle silence.
--VLH, published in The Saline Courier, Poets Forum edited by Don Crowson October 11, 2012
~~
Daughter - age 5 - Golfing with Daddy
Aren't you glad that I came, Daddy?
Won't we have a lot of fun?
Can I wear your golf hat, Daddy?
I can't see inside the sun!
Let me splash the water, Daddy,
Just like you did with a ball.
Look at all the tulips, Daddy!
Can't I pick some? None at all?
Can I dig a tunnel, Daddy,
Just like you did in the sand?
Let me rake the sandpile, Daddy.
Hey, you jerked my little hand!
Daddy, I can't find your golf ball.
Is it still up in the tree?
Oh! You said a bad word, Daddy.
Wait till Mom hears that from me!
I don't want to go home, Daddy.
You are going the wrong way!
Can I drive the golf cart, Daddy?
Can we play again some day?
--VLH, published in Seven Ages of Golf (for Women), 1980
~~~~
Mosaic
Mosaic pieces in this book
are steps I took
along the way
to reach today.
Each piece of life, when put in place
has helped me face
what's yet to be.
Soon, now, we'll see
the final picture my life drew
and I'll show you
my wants, my needs,
my words, my deeds.
--VLH, from the front cover of her last book, Mosaic, published 2011
~~~~
Verna Lee never copyrighted her books. "Reprints Appreciated" she always said.
For more information on Verna Lee, see my Pitty Patter blog for 10.11.12 and go to
www.rollerfuneralhomes.com (Conway AR) for an obituary. Also, she is included in the Central Arkansas Library's Online Encyclopedia.
