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Causerie \kōz-'rē\

An informal chat or talk: a friendly discussion, typically on a literary subject.

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Because We Will Not End

5/8/2016

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Picture
"Where the firmament melts and evaporates into the heavens."


Because We Will Not End
 
 
Meet me after awhile
Where the earth meets the sky,
Where flowers rise up to become clouds.
Watch for me where the firmament
Melts and evaporates into the heavens,
Where waters flow into the sun. 
I will be there.
Either, before or after you,
I do not know which.
 
But shall we promise
To look for and to find
Each other,
In the morning,
At the start of a new day,
Where the earth meets the sky? 
 
 
Susan Patterson
05-2016
 

Audio and Author Comment-

Going along with the theme of 'Life', let us consider a life after this one.  Some people plan to meet their loved ones on the other side of the eastern gate of heaven.  Some make no plans at all.  The protagonist in this posted poem prefers to meet just at the horizon.  skp

Good Books and Good Prices on Our Website

Unnoticed Moments, Poems by Susan Patterson
 


​Unnoticed Moments
, our latest  book authored by Susan Patterson is available at the Earlene Grey website, www. earlenegrey.com. 

You will find the poems in this book contemporary and sharp.  One reader put it quite nicely, "Susan has the rare knack of constructing simple lines with few words, which contrive to slip under the most careful guard and to penetrate our souls and leave their wisdom for us to relish."

Unnoticed Moments is available for $12.00 each or you can get it on sale in combination with other books.   Go to Specials on the website.    Why not get copies for your friends as well?  Great idea! 



▶Writing is always beneficial.  No matter how often, how long, the purpose or the product.        Earlene Grey

Picture
The rhododendrons, in all their glory, are blooming all over Oregon. How better to enter to enjoy just one example of the Earth's beauty?

Cheery-bye for now!     skp

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Life

5/1/2016

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Picture
The one and only, Multnomah Falls in Oregon.


Life

 
At times it does seem like sacrifice without success. 
At times it does seem like failure without fulfillment. 
 
But more often than not, it is like flowers in the lunch box.
You carry your meal in an old battered tin box, 
Then when you finally get to lunchtime,
You open it up to discover that someone has
Tucked flowers in the midst of your food. 
 
 
Susan Patterson



 The theme for the next few weeks of The Causerie, will simply be "Life".   Sometimes difficult, sometimes easy, it is certainly always interesting.   Likewise, some of the poetry about life that I will be posting in May will be challenging for readers because of the sadness of the poems and sometimes uplifting because of the happiness of other poems.   Such is life. 

The posting above is one of my favorites.   I firming believe that if we look, we will find the flowers in our lunch box.  Metaphorically speaking, that is. 

Following is a poem  that tells us two women talking about their individual lives.  It is not the most happiest of pieces, but it  is honest, and acknowledges their strength and that they are taking charge of their own lives. 


Picture
"There we were, two worn women, telling what must be shared."


Knowing
 
 
I was chatting with a long time, but not
Intimate friend.  I extended my usual
Asking of the family. This one time she
Spoke, without constraint.   
She told of grown children, still not grown, of
Broken marriages, of debt and
Desperation.  Illness of mind.
Pain lasting decades.
Pain, not always hers, but that which she
Witnessed to the point to taking on.  
And she told of supplying aid, but
To no avail. 
 
So soft and in such short words, she spoke,
There was no need to elaborate.
I knew.  I knew in my own world.
I knew and could only utter a low, almost inaudible
Response, ‘Yeh.’  ‘Yeh.’ my mouth hardly moving.
A dialogue in monotone.
There we were two worn women, telling what didn’t need
To be told, but must be shared to be endured.  We
Were in voice, barely a whisper, not looking at each other,
But in stares, out into the space of our ever-reaching time.
‘Yeh’, I murmured. 
 
Then she took charge, as each of us must do. 
She talked of music recitals, of meal preparations,
Of waiting for the future.  And she went on her way.
And I went on mine. 
 
 
Susan Patterson
6-2012
 


▶ Life is not in the minutes of what happens to us;  it is in the seconds of  our response.                                                                   
Earlene Grey



Picture
Another dynamite picture of Oregon. Can anyone tell me where this was taken?

  Happy  May to all of our faithful readers!                     skp

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    Author

    Susan Patterson is a published author of three books of poetry and a book of memoirs.  She is heard regularly on RKWP podcast-radio. She also speaks at private and public events. Find out more at the website below.

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